Why Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. 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 prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

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 circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.