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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike 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 the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.