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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering 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.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.