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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.