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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season 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 present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"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 any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect 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 exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.