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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.