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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy 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

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.