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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.