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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"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 outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.