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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled 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 total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.