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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, 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 capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover 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 modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.