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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer 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 desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, 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 seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

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 most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.