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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday 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 realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.