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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function 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 investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.