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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of 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 horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.