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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.