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JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers 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 joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth 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 modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.