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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive 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 start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used 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 besides the traditional powers can claim.