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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired 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 day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth 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. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.