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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly 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 present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much 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 Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse 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 endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "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 lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.