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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least 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, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned 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, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.