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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot 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 worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally 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. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots 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 victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. 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 definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.