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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland 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 comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, 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 modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.