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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While 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 their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given 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, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.