Snakes and ladders
There are two things about the Premiership I would hold to be self-evident.
The first is that if Brendan Rodgers fails to win the title and give Celtic an eighth successive championship then he will be relieved of his managerial duties at the club.
Dermot Desmond is a hard-nosed businessman of the kind who doesn't pay an employee millions of pounds per annum to have said employee fail to carry out a domestic duty that is only part of an even wider, more ambitious, remit.
If Celtic's march towards the cherished Ten in a Row is halted in its tracks then the man responsible for that will undoubtedly carry the can.
The second thing that is self-evident is that if Steven Gerrard fails to stop Celtic winning the title then his jacket will be on a shoogly nail as well.
Gerrard is Rangers' last hope of stopping Celtic in their tracks after years of domestic domination.
That is why he has been brought to the club, and bankrolled in the transfer market, at enormous cost to a club who have just posted extremely high financial losses.
If those two things were not fascinating enough, we now have a league competition which is the most compelling for years.
To have reached the stage where one-third of the championship has been clocked up and to have the top five clubs separated by just three points is a sight to behold.
It is a game of snakes and ladders where the top eight clubs are up one minute and down the next.
The Celtic and Rangers supporters can't enjoy it due to being so fearful of the consequences if their club falls down on the job, but it's unmissable entertainment for the rest of us.
Nothing makes sense where the progress of the championship is concerned.
Celtic win seven games in a row, clock up a remarkable number of goals and yet sit only two points away from Rangers and Kilmarnock.
St. Johnstone are beaten 6 - 0 by Celtic on a day in October when the final score could have reached double figures and then go on a five game run which involves a handful of wins and no goals conceded.
Tommy Wright's side now sit just three points adrift of Celtic in the table.
Hibs were early season entertainers from the top drawer. They're now in eighth position after being leapfrogged by Livingston on the back of their performance against Celtic on Sunday.
Hearts are joint top but nobody outside of Tynecastle really believes they'll stay there for long after being hampered by a succession of serious injuries
If it all goes on like this there will be a mass outbreak of nervous anxiety among those supporters who are un-used to the concept of competition after years of one horse races.
Steven Gerrard unwittingly took everyone back to the old days when he said that Rangers had been helped before the game against Motherwell by a result elsewhere.
He didn't name Celtic or Livingston, but that's what he meant.
Celtic dropped points and Rangers were lifted to a place where they scored seven goals and exposed Motherwell as a side who should watch their back at the bottom end of the league table.
This is the way it used to be when there was uncertainty about the outcome of the championship.
If this is the way it continues to be from now until the end of the season then it'll be irresistible entertainment.
Referees, though, continue to be a concern in the midst of this enjoyment.
Kevin Clancy missed one of the most easily spotted red card offences of the season at Livingston when Dolly Menga's head was directed towards that of Celtic's Ryan Christie.
The SFA, I would imagine, will clear up the match official's mess and Menga will be handed a retrospective two match ban.
But the complexion of the match would have changed had Livi been reduced to ten man as would have been appropriate.
Rangers had to do without Daniel Candaeis for one match after he was erroneously sent off against St.Mirren.
The stakes are too high for referees to be getting pivotal calls wrong.
But dodgy referees, like death and taxes, will always be with us, I suppose.
It can only be hoped they don't make mistakes that materially influence the outcome of the championship, otherwise we'll be living under martial law.
The irony of all this excitement within the league table is that it coincides with the national team being about to embark on a sequence of games which hold the country's credibility in their hands.
It is unthinkable that Scotland could fail to beat Albania away and Israel at Hampden to progress to the next stage of qualification for the European Championship.
Or it should be.
But we have arrived at a place where injury has hampered Alex McLeish's squad selection and doubts are emerging about players' desire to play for their country.
On Saturday night in Albania, there is no margin for error, however.
There have been terrific league competitions before that coincided with significant under-achievement on the international front.
Celtic became the first British club to win the European Cup in 1967, but Scotland failed to make it to the World Cup finals the year before that or even the one that came after Lisbon.
And those were the days when the standard of player on offer to the national team manager were of a significantly higher standard than is available to McLeish at the present time.
Whatever happens at the weekend, a lull in proceedings has been called where the flagship domestic competition is concerned.
The pause for reflection allows us to acknowledge that the league has become a source of extreme fascination.
Those who like that sort of thing will be delighted.
Those who deny there is anything happening that could alter what has become the status quo will continue to denounce the very idea of a competition being in progress.
We await the next throw of the dice on the snakes and ladders board