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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.