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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor 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 added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided 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 hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.