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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure 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. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.