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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning 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 failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.