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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent 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 Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled 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 mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be 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 good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.