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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.