The Reasons Heart of Midlothian's Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight 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 matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.