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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering 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.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth 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. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.