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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 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 can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced 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 added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.