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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of 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, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness 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." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.