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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of 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 money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.