Why Heart of Midlothian's Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear 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 Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present 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 the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.