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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive 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 hidden talents 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. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.