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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much 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 Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.