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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. 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. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.