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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.