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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. 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 introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.