The title race Celtic fans wanted has collapsed for this season. But it has to happen.

At the start of this season, we did a post on here about the likelihood of a proper and sustained title challenge. But the team I had in mind wasn’t the club from across the city. It was hope—hope that a challenge might emerge from somewhere else.

At some point, there pretty much has to be, because Scottish football cannot exist in this strange limbo forever. Eventually, someone has to step up with the consistency and quality to beat the teams around them—even if they occasionally fall short against the Glasgow clubs.

This is especially important when you consider that our so-called nearest rivals are a mess. Under these circumstances, the league basically turns into a one-team procession. While that’s a measure of how good we are (and something for which we should receive credit), it doesn’t provide us with the kind of challenge that forces a team to maintain extremely high standards.

If you want to know why some of our players look like they’ve taken their foot off the gas lately, maybe it’s because they have.

Maybe it’s because they don’t see a genuine threat on the horizon. And in those circumstances, it can be hard to convince them that they need to give their all.

In a close race, you push yourself that bit harder. If you’re leading the pack but feel someone breathing down your neck, you run that little bit faster. You work that little bit more to stay ahead. I’m not saying we’d be on the brink of an invincible campaign if we had a title challenger—but it would help. It would help if the one side that looked like they might provide it hadn’t collapsed so spectacularly.

Last night at Ibrox, that side was roundly beaten.

Their fans—who’ve been incredibly tolerant and patient up until now—see a team on one of the worst winless runs I’ve seen in a long time. They’re on the brink of baying for blood. Yes, of course, I thought Aberdeen might hang in there. Of course, I hoped they might just show signs of being a team that could compete. After all, they came to Celtic Park and clawed back from 2-0 down.

I can’t remember the last time a team did that. It’s a singular achievement, and they looked good for it that day. As I said at the time, they could have won the game.

But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team collapse so thoroughly and so spectacularly. They’re now a dozen games without a win. Watching them last night, they looked absolutely bereft of confidence. Even if they can turn it around, it’s too late now. Turning it around now would simply mean fighting for third place. The chance of being second—far less challenging Celtic all the way to the wire—is gone.

And that frustrates me. It annoys me because it’s so important that we see a challenge from outside Glasgow. The Glasgow clubs cannot forever be the only reason people tune into Scottish football. Imagine how exciting it would be for neutrals if Dundee United, Aberdeen, Hearts, or Hibs were blowing teams away, mounting a significant challenge, and posing a real threat. That would change everything.

The team that finally gets it right will be one that’s well-run. They’ll succeed because they’ve nailed youth development, coaching, and scouting. Most likely, it’ll be a club that lives within its means. That, to me, is everything, because it means what they do is sustainable—not dependent on directors keeping the lights on.

That’s another reason why the challenge needs to come from outside Glasgow. The other Glasgow club is a basket case, forever endangering itself and the rest of the game. If we tie our future too closely to them, we’re bound to circle the drain with them at some point. None of us wants that.

So, yes, I’m disappointed that the Aberdeen challenge hasn’t just faded—it’s crashed and burned. Whatever went wrong, they need to identify it and fix it. It won’t help them in this campaign, but no team ever needed a win more. Their manager admitted as much after last night’s game at Ibrox.

Their next match is against lower-league opposition in the Scottish Cup. To say they need a victory is a gross understatement. If they don’t win, the pressure on him will be unbearable. The irony is that a good cup run set Aberdeen up to be this season’s dark horses. The real irony, of course, is that a cup defeat shattered their momentum—and it may have been the beginning of this collapse.

And the true horror is that it was Celtic who inflicted that defeat. That Hampden annihilation robbed their team of the confidence they’d built.

If you’re a fan of cartoons, you’ll know the golden rule about walking on air. You’ve all seen the kind of thing I mean—when Wile E. Coyote is strapped to a rocket and ends up over the edge of a mountain. As long as he doesn’t look down, he’s fine. The moment he does, the illusion breaks, and he plummets.

I sometimes think a minor club’s title challenge is a bit like that. They can only sustain it if they’re not consciously thinking about it. The moment they look around and acknowledge the stakes, the magic disappears, and they fall.

That’s why I feel bad for Aberdeen today. It’s almost as if that’s what happened to them—and we caused it.

I don’t feel bad about that. I don’t feel bad about any Celtic win, no matter what the consequences are for someone else. But I’m sorry it had such a devastating effect. Hopefully, they can find a way to recover and start building momentum again, because we need it. Scottish football needs it.

Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group via Getty Images

The other night we released our latest podcast episode. In light of events across town we called it Sack The Board! Please check it out and share it if you enjoy it! Help us grow and get even better!