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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.