Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Isn't as a Shock.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win 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 provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.