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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'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 others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm 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 strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.