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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland 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 decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents 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 mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.