The Reasons Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.