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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems 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 Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.