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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics 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 Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.