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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.