Time to target the bad guys
The missile which was launched from the Rangers section of the crowd and found its target on the back of an assistant referee's head at Livingston on Sunday was a timely reminder of why you can never assume good behaviour is a given inside a football ground.
The sleepy hollow of Livingston on a Sunday afternoon would hardly have been thought of as a potential source of anti-social behaviour.
But somehow a leafy setting in Midlothian and the occasion of a match between the local team and Rangers was all too much for someone with absolutely no regard for the safety of a fellow human being.
So take four sets of fans, two cup semi-finals and one stadium on a single day and ask yourself what potential there might be for an incident like that blood-letting episode being witnessed on an even bigger scale on Sunday, October 28.
None of which, incidentally would reflect badly on Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts or Rangers as football clubs.
How are they supposed to legislate for the despicable actions of a random dimwits who have attached themselves to their team?
But it might be thought better if the claustrophobic nature of two semi-finals in quick succession in one city was re-examined for safety reasons.
If hitting your head off a brick wall hurts then don't do it. If there are safety issues surrounding two potentially volatile matches arising from too many rival fans in close proximity to each other then take evasive action.
I'll leave it with the SPFL, but I suspect they are already in full eyes closed, fingers crossed mode while knowing that the television broadcaster who will cover both ties won't let them do anything about re-scheduling the Betfred Cup's penultimate stage.
But if I was in charge of Scotland's referees I would also be considering the match officials' right to call a halt to any game interrupted by acts of wanton violence.
If, as has been done before, matches have been ended prematurely because players have been racially abused then surely referees and their assistants are entitled to abandon a game if one of their number has been physically assaulted?
The standard of refereeing can be criticised to the hilt, and it is arguably at a low ebb in this country, but when violence reigns then the match officials are due to protect themselves.
We don't need a return to the dark ages of crowd disturbances and the only way we can avoid history repeating itself is to send a clear signal that moronic behaviour will not be tolerated.
It's a pity a stain was put on an otherwise shiny weekend for entertainment in the Premiership.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what honest to goodness competition looks like.
Celtic and Rangers are six and eight points respectively behind the league leaders, Hearts.
Aberdeen, the perennial runners up in recent years are now a double digit distance behind the Tynecastle side.
Hearts are at Ibrox next Sunday and an away win is already unthinkable for Steven Gerrard.
A proper competition has become an almost alien concept during the years of Celtic's domination of the league championship.
The early look of the Premiership table could yet turn out to be a mirage by the time we hit the final stretch in the title race, but there's plenty of scope for enjoyment in the meantime. And that's a good thing.
Livi have got more points than Celtic or Rangers for goodness sake, and that's after getting rid of one manager and hiring another one.
St. Mirren tried the same trick, but they have't even managed to score a goal since Oran Kearney replaced Alan Stubbs.
Aberdeen are in the bottom six.
Three points separate the bottom four clubs at the cut-throat end of the league table.
It is, as they say, all there.
But there will now be a short intermission while Celtic and Rangers re-enter the group stages of the Europa League on Thursday night.
Taking the occasional, eye-watering thumping in the Champions League is one thing, bearing in mind games against Barcelona and PSG are basically mis-matches.
But it would be harmful to Celtic's self-esteem if the same thing started to happen in the Europa League.
Salzburg, their opponents this week, have already gone to Germany and defeated RB Leipzig in Group B.
What happens in Europe is capable of affecting form on a domestic level.
Celtic should be mindful of security at the back when they go to Austria and conscious of the fact they need to do their best work at home in Glasgow at this stage of the competition.
Rangers will go into their home game with Rapid Vienna still stung by their own ineptitude against Livingston.
Steven Gerrard is to be applauded for the way he summed up that defeat, admitting his side could have played all day and not scored.
He'll also be aware that a good result, and performance, at home against Rapid Vienna will be essential before sending his team into a game against Hearts that has early significance attached to it.
October is going to be a month that will tell us an awful lot about what we're dealing with where the credibility of the top sides in our league are concerned.
Credentials are going on the line in Europe as well at home in league and cup football.
It would help greatly if we could all sit back and watch it without worrying about gratuitous violence