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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, 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 let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.