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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.