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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.