Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.