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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based 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 Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically 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, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.