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

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.