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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems 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 score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.