Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game 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 able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.