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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"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 appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, 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 Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. 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 strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.