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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised 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 Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.