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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.