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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.