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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled 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 combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.