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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this season 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, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much 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 mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.