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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. 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 remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.