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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight 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 Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.