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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents 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 their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.