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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.