🔗 Share this article The Reasons Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Shouldn't Come as a Surprise. HEARTS ON FIRE Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result. Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear 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 Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest. THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred. "No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time." NEW CHALLENGER Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system. In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly. MANAGER'S RESPONSE "In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.