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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed 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 deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.