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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.