Why Heart of Midlothian's Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating 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 the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change 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 appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.