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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change 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 given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness 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, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.