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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment 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 the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.