Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Surprise.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents 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 modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.