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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke 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 anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach 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 opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.