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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, 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 mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems 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 modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.