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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present 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 freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects 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 the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.