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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views 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 look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.