Why Heart of Midlothian's Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While 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 their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. 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 recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth 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 total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.