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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.