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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season 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 Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics 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 exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.