Time for dungarees not dinner suits
A pivotal sequence of results carrying some significance or a false dawn?
You decide.
Except that, when it comes to matters involving Celtic and Rangers there is no point in asking for a democratic vote.
Everyone reacts according to club bias and gives reason and logic a wide berth.
But you would need to have no grip on reality whatsoever to doubt that, for the first time in eight years, we have a championship worthy of the name in the Premiership.
Celtic have now dropped five points out of six against teams who were in the bottom six when they kicked off against them, namely Hibs and Livingston.
Rangers have scored ten goals and conceded none against Aberdeen and Hamilton Accies in quick succession at the same time.
Steven Gerrard's side now sit at the top of the league table and the dynamic of the championship has changed dramatically.
The question is can Rangers live with the mantle of being league leaders and stay resolute while living with an increased level of expectation?
And can Celtic, used to lording it over Rangers, deal with the business of being second in the table and being forced to play catch-up when they have been more accustomed to looking in the rear view mirror and seeing their greatest rivals some way behind them?
The days of the Premiership being in a state of suspended animation while Rangers dealt with the business of administration, liquidation, lower league football, Mark Warburton and his not so magical hat, Pedro Caixinha and his dodgy caravan et al have come to an end.
Only the terminally delusional will have failed to notice that a new era of competition is upon us.
Celtic were magnificent against Cluj in the Europa League last Thursday night. The Saturday before that and the Sunday after that they were found seriously wanting in Edinburgh and West Lothian.
Europe doesn't matter to Celtic or Rangers supporters.
We live in an uncomplicated and parochial world.
Celtic winning Nine in a Row and Rangers stopping that feat is all that really matters.
Anyone who denies that is the case has no relationship with the truth. If you offered Celtic or Rangers a European trophy or the domestic league title they would go for the latter.
So, where do we stand?
Celtic appear unable to play well when you are asked to wear dungarees instead of dinner suits. They can't do away matches when the other side wants it more than they do.
They have been found wanting in the wanting department, so to speak.
And they have performed the equivalent of handing Rangers jump leads by dropping points immediately before Gerrard's side have to play their matches.
Celtic's next away match?
Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
If you can drop points against a toiling Hibs and a Livi side who had gone into the game against Celtic on the back of three successive league losses then you can drop points anywhere away from home.
Neil Lennon's side have been exposed as something less than formidable in defence while Rangers' manager could speak at the weekend about being blessed with an array of talent in that area.
Celtic have relied too heavily on Odsonne Edouard up front. Rangers have so far seen Jermain Defoe and Alfredo Morelos score twenty-six goals in all competitions by early October.
And they have still to welcome back a seven million pound signing in Ryan Kent.
There are thirty games to play and no grounds for declaring that one club, or the other, will definitely win the title.
But there is undeniable room for saying that the matter is up for debate like no other season since 2011.
Celtic have appeared to be like individuals sent from their stately home to live on a housing estate and learn the rules for survival there.
And they are being roughed up by the locals in the process.
Gary Holt, the Livingston manager, said he had told his players to go toe to toe with their opposite number on Sunday and find out who wanted victory more in the individual battles.
The answer must have been obvious to all who watched the match.
Lennon said Celtic were "Flat" against Hibs and "Passive" at Livingston.
They had better find some street smarts, and soon, or else what their fans regard as being unthinkable could become the reality of having their domination of the domestic scene ended.