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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, 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 normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, 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 small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal 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 champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.