Celtic’s season so far has been exceptional … there’s no “mid-season slump” this time.

Some mainstream media outlets have been having a proper good time since Sunday, convincing themselves that Celtic’s draw has somehow reopened the title race and let the Ibrox club back into it. We’ve even had people like Keith Jackson calling it a “slump.” A mini-slump, to be sure, but the inference is clear: this is Celtic starting to stumble.

This time last year, we were booing Santa Claus. The atmosphere at the 2-0 game against Hearts was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced as a fan. As a critic of the board of directors, I thought some of the songs from the stands that day sent a very clear message about what the club needed in January.

Even then, I still think the board sold the manager short.

But, as it turned out, Rodgers knew what he was doing. He knew the kind of signings he wanted, the type of players who would make a difference. He brought in two of them, and it flipped the script. What people seem to forget is that our mid-season slump last year came before this point. Our two defeats in a week came at the start of December. That match against Hearts was on the 16th.

At full-time that day, we were four points ahead of the club across the city, and they had two games in hand. Our seven-point lead had already been surrendered by this time last year. We had drawn three league matches and lost twice—those defeats coming, as we know, in the space of a week. Kilmarnock had also beaten us in the League Cup.

So, by mid-December, we had already lost one trophy, and our seven-point lead had evaporated in seven days. Those defeats hadn’t come out of the blue, either. We weren’t playing particularly well, and the whole club knew it was in a fight for the title. The manager certainly knew; he had already made his mind up about most of the summer signings. So, anyone wanting to call that a slump had good reasons for it.

This time around, there is no slump. We’ve drawn twice, yes, but either side of those draws are seven wins in a row. No defeats domestically. That’s why it’s our name engraved on the League Cup and not that of the moaning mob across the city. I wouldn’t even call this a stumble. Maybe a slight dip in terms of performances, but the form has been as good as ever.

Those talking about three games without a win—or three draws in a row—somehow seem to have erased from their minds the simple fact that we won silverware in one of them.

Even if we leave Ibrox only six points clear, it will still be a stronger position than we were in at the end of 2023. And the simple fact is, I don’t think we’ll leave Ibrox with anything less than another three points of our own. Quite possibly with Philippe Clement packed in a suitcase, ready for hanging on Brendan Rodgers’ wall.

As we head into tomorrow’s fixture, we have a nine-point lead, we are League Cup holders, the most successful club in the country without question or dispute, and we’re chasing another treble.

If you’re wondering why we’re reading about an Ibrox resurgence, you’re not alone.

Just listen to Callum McGregor’s comments about the dressing room’s reaction to dropping points in Dundee; this is a team hungry for success and as determined to win as it’s ever been.

The folks across the city can clutch at whatever straws they like and cling to whatever fantasy appeals to them—they always do.

But the pure and simple fact is this: we don’t look as if we’re going to throw this away. And remember, that’s only one part of the equation. Even if they’re good enough to keep winning, we would still need to throw it away.

And I don’t think either of those things is going to happen. They’re just not good enough, and we’re just a little too good.

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