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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered 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, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.