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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, 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 process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term 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 days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed 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 famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look 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 isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.