The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole 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 Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter 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 given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.