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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner 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 enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team'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 opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.