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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although 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 circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to 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 Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.