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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting 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 bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.