The Reasons Heart of Midlothian's Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.