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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

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

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged 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 money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.