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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those 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're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.