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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, 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 Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.