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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.