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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While 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 situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget 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 Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. 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 players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.