The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared 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 suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation 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 horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'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 in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.