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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.