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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side'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 statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.