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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed 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 total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter 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. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.