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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems 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. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.