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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.