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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, 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 matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.