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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

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 meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.