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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.