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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.