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

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed 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 total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used 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 actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.

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

HEARTS ON FIRE

CELTIC'S SLUMP

NEW CHALLENGER

COACH'S RESPONSE

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