Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.