🔗 Share this article Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock. JAMBOS BLAZING Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result. For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold. CELTIC'S SLUMP Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred. "I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early." NEW CHALLENGER Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year 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 small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool. In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result. COACH'S REACTION "I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. 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 strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.