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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike 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 suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire 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

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, 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 matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.