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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of 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."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear 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 this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.