Why Heart of Midlothian's Landmark Championship Challenge Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, 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 celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.