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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move 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 the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, 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 Sunday sporting 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 oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.