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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect 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 lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.