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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function 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 knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.