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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics 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 total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.