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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.