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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top 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 squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.