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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views 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 we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation 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 ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.