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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot 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 Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "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 horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss 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 joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.