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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those 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 lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.