🔗 Share this article Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock. JAMBOS BLAZING Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score. Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest. CELTIC'S SLUMP While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from 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 find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred. "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 any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early." NEW CHALLENGER Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system. In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly. COACH'S REACTION "In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those 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 given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.