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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers 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 leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest 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 knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.