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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.