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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus 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 the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, 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 exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look 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 is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.