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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, 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 exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth 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 tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.