Why Heart of Midlothian's Historic Championship Challenge Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating 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 team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.