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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar 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 all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.