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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – 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.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others 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 given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.