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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot 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 defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.