Now we have breached the mid point in the SPFL season, Celtic still sit in a commanding position. Whilst greater leads than this have been thrown away, the form of the hoops looks to be utterly rampant. With a 9 point lead and seemingly insurmountable goal difference, it looks like Postecoglou will get his hands on that second championship in successive years.
The new narrative from across the city however, rather comically, is the consistent comparison between the two clubs records since Michael Beale has taken over.
This is a desperate attempt to equivocate the current state of the two clubs performance. Whilst both clubs have matched up in terms of wins, Rangers have only fallen further behind in terms of their goal difference despite their new managers 'heroics'.
What cannot be understated is the potential demoralising affect that this could be having on their squad. Despite by far and away their best form of the season, they have not managed to put so much as a chink in Celtic's armour, not even a glimmer. In fact, they have simply fallen further behind.
The one opportunity for them to claw back the current points advantage was thrown away despite a lacklustre Celtic performance. The New Year game was widely seen as a must win for Rangers, whilst a draw was almost as good as a win for Celtic.
Whilst the win stats may mirror, when you actually delve into the performances things are not quite as clear cut as they seem. 5 of Rangers wins have been via 1 goal margins, with one of said wins a one in a million miracle comeback against struggling Aberdeen. Their latest victory was courtesy of an incredibly lucky free kick in the latter stages of the game against lowly Ross County. Can this luck really be sustainable?
In contrast, Celtic have been blowing teams away. Despite playing on a potato field against St Johnstone at the weekend they still managed to play their brand of stylish explosive football. With two players of high quality for each position that shows no signs of stopping.
The mantra of never stopping should see Celtic fly over the line, however I suspect that the Celtic manager will not be complacent regarding Rangers new found consistency with Beale in charge. Whenever a new challenge has faced Ange he has smashed through it again and again. A real marker of where the two clubs are at will be the league cup final at the end of this month. With the gap as it is, and a number of Ranger's players out of contract, one set back for them may cause a domino affect of banter years like shenanigans...
Despite any mental gymnastics from Michael Beale regarding budgets and 'luck', he will know that given his clubs precarious position that he is only one bad result away from a catastrophe. The pressure is on Rangers to lay a glove on Celtic, who themselves simply need to carry on doing what they are doing.
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