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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

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

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.