Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.