Why Hearts' Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, 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 punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected 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 obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.