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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.