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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function 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 expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.