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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While 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, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter 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 look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, 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 title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.