The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.