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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

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 almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated 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 forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.