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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect 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 lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.