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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, 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, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.