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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.