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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.