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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential 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 Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances 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 Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.