The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite 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 knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views 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 good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.