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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire 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, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics 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 Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.