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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number 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.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, 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 lost 10 points from nine league games 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 left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.