Why Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.