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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.