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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.