Why Heart of Midlothian's Historic Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus 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 the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

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 start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, 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 lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.