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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed 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 flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.