🔗 Share this article The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Shock. JAMBOS BLAZING Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score. Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest. CELTIC'S SLUMP Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246. "I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early." EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system. In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result. COACH'S REACTION "In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.