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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure 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 isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads 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. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.