The Reasons Heart of Midlothian's Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, 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. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.