Why Hearts' Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Shock.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.