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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed 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 total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.