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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased 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 excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.