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

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

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

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.