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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. 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, Hearts have introduced 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 granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.