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

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, 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. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd 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 champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.