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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days 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 informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems 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 mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing 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 massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.