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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position 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 ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.