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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal 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 title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided 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 used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.