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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.