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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side'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 views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.