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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem 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, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.