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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.