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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

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

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.