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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others 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 provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.