Why Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth 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 modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.