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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win 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 fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.