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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While 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 their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed 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 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 person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm 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 in fitness we look 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 truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.