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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time 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 all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.