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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money 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 provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen 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 man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear 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 this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.