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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth 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. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"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 league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.