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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.