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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.