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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired 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 discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.