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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day 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 any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.