Why Heart of Midlothian's Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.