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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. 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 make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.