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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.