The Reasons Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Isn't as a Shock.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers 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 Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.