The Reasons Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected 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 summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, 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 used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.