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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division 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 matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.