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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football 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 celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term 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 see how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.