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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers 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 mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

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 Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be 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 players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.