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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion 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 mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based 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 Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. 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 good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.