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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number 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 at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent 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 combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, 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 misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.