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JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day 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 defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.