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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite 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 introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga 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 lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those 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 given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.