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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem 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 first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.