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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite 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 added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.