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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.