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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign 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 on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.