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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much 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 Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.