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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

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 circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.