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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just 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 SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

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 league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look 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 the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.