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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents 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 modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.