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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory 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 campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players 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 joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness 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 glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.