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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.