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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems 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 modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.