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

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled 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 combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.