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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.