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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes 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 league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.