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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much 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 resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given 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, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. 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 claim.