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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign 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 divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.