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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants 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 standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from 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 schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.