The Reasons Heart of Midlothian's Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when news 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 leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. 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 knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality 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 win.