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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit 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 Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.