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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and 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 the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, 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." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.