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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.