Aura best for the New Year
You can replace a player or a manager, but you can't replace an aura of invincibility. Once it's gone, it's gone.
And what Celtic lost at Ibrox on Saturday was more than just three points.
With the defeat from Rangers came the realisation that a spell had been broken after two and a half years.
Steven Gerrard knows it. The Rangers players know it. And somewhere in their deepest subconscious the Celtic supporters know it as well.
Rangers now understand what it takes to beat a Brendan Rodgers side. It might have taken thirteen league and cup games for the penny to drop but the final result at the weekend had its feet planted firmly in reality and had absolutely nothing to do with fate or superstition.
Rangers were first class and Celtic's response to being dominated from start to finish was second rate by their own high standards.
No-one can reasonably expect the Celtic fans to appreciate the wider ramifications of Ryan Jack's goal but it is great for the Premiership as a whole to now find the top four clubs separated by just three points at the halfway stage in what can legitimately be called a title race.
Competition is the very essence of sport and the second half of the season promises to be as competitive as any thrill seeker could possibly wish.
There is no certainty that Celtic will win the title and achieve an eighth successive championship.
There remains a viable chance that Gerrard could, in the space of an inaugural season in management, attain localised immortality by preventing the unprecedented feat of Ten in a Row for Celtic.
And if Kilmarnock are only one point behind Celtic and Rangers at the halfway stage of the season then who knows what influence they could exert as the competition reaches its decisive phase.
And you can put Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs into the soon to start war of attrition as well.
The back half of the season is going to be a compelling, cut-throat business and the re-introduction genuine excitement and intrigue on a wider scale than normal has seen attendances rise.
What's not to love?
Reputations are on the line now as well. For Brendan Rodgers not to win the Premiership title would be a major embarrassment, given the size of the budget he has to work with at Celtic Park.
He must, therefore, now address the law of diminishing returns and how it has now started to affect his squad to make sure his unblemished record stays intact.
The Invincibles season that was followed by a history-making Double Treble and the winning of a seventh successive trophy at the start of this season represents high achievement on an extraordinary level.
But some players are now showing signs of wear and tear of the kind that comes with going to the well once too often.
In Rodgers' first season, Celtic dropped eight league points in total. To date they have dropped eighteen points in half a season where this campaign is concerned.
Recruitment of fresh personnel in the January transfer window is essential, as is the need to offload as many as possible of the growing list of players who are clearly surplus to requirements.
Lee Congerton, the low profile head of recruitment at Celtic, is now under scrutiny to find players better than those who have been brought to the club of late.
The last transfer window brought players who fall into two categories, invisible and peripheral.
Rangers will go for re-inforcements as well, but they have at least overcome an important psychological hurdle.
Celtic no longer represent an un-attainable scalp. They have been beaten for the first time and have good goalkeeping and poor finishing to thank for the margin of defeat not reaching embarrassing proportions.
The weekend offered up a watershed moment and the league will be all the better for it in terms of spectacle.
We are now in that period known as the Winter break so far as the top flight is concerned, but that has become a misnomer.
Now is the time when the leading contenders for the title will need to tool up for the battle that lies ahead.
Who does what in the transfer market will be the source of entertainment for weeks to come.
Because who goes where could determine which club finishes up top of the table next May