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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.