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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game 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 Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.