🔗 Share this article Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Shock. JAMBOS BLAZING Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score. Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest. CELTIC'S DECLINE While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246. "No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time." NEW CHALLENGER Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool. In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect 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 combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result. COACH'S REACTION "In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.