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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.