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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting 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 Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. 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 in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.