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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip 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 Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, 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 observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.