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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards 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 the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.