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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics 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 Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality 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.