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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

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 Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.