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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled 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. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.