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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change 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. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.