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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire 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, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.