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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions 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 can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip 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 Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga 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 mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.