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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both 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 the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far 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 checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, 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 accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.