Hugh Keevins: Normal service has resumed

Wherever possible, Scottish football tends to cling to the old fashioned ways.

This means Celtic and Rangers fight it out for the major prize and the rest are bit part players.

There was a remote chance of history being re-written when financial mis-management took Rangers into the lower leagues for years and Celtic took a gamble on a Norwegian manager who developed anxiety attacks whenever pressure mounted.

But nobody could rise to the challenge, and now the chance would appear to have gone for ever with Rangers' re-emergence and Celtic's domestic dominance under Brendan Rodgers.

The weekend, with defeat for Hearts at Ibrox and Aberdeen's draw at home to St Johnstone, suggests any threat to the Old Firm's occupation of first and second place in the league table on a regular basis is a myth perpetuated by the eternally optimistic.

Realism trumps optimism, and the reality is neither Aberdeen nor Hearts have the consistency or the nerve to be Scottish football's second force.

Which means it is Rangers manager Mark Warburton who now has to clock on for the hardest shift of all, trying to supplant Celtic when he has a fraction of their resources.

Rodgers' side has the first major trophy of the season, the League Cup, as well as thirty million pounds in the bank from participation in the Champions League. And if they win their games in hand while threatening to go through the entire league season undefeated Celtic will be crowned champions for the sixth time in a row by some distance from the runner-up.

Warburton, meanwhile, will only be considered a success by the Rangers support if he stops Celtic from winning an historic ten titles in a row.

Being second in the league table will pass for a satisfactory effort this season, but it won't win friends and influence people at Ibrox if that is what happens every season.

It's a straightforward world in the Old Firm's La-La Land.

First is heaven and second is hell.

That's why I had to laugh on Superscoreboard last week when the question was asked whether Rangers fans would prefer to beat Hearts at the weekend than Celtic at Ibrox on Hogmany.

I repeat, I know supporters of both clubs who are unable to take solids on the week of a Glasgow derby.

In the most extreme cases there are fans who would renounce a title win and entry to the Champions League qualifiers if they could beat their historic rivals four times in one domestic championship season.

This is a rivalry like no other, consult police files, hospital records and alcohol sales patterns for overwhelming evidence of that being the case.

So, Mark, all you have to do is figure out a way to make light of Celtic's economic strength and their ability to boost their squad if anything approaching an emergency should arise.

I would cling to the theory that is what you don't know that is the most important thing of all regarding the future.

Less than a year ago Celtic's crowds were dropping like a stone. Banners about "Empty jerseys" were appearing among the disaffected who had bothered to turn up at the ground.

Now it is as if principal shareholder Dermot Desmond has clicked his fingers and made the sun come out.

Warburton and the Rangers fans need to hope for something similar while continuing to take progressive steps.

A win at Hamilton Friday night would mean three league wins on the bounce for the first time this season, for example. Not exactly a case for holding the front page, but putting greater distance between Rangers and those who would claim to be their challengers for second place none the less.

If a sense of normal service being resumed was able to be felt on Saturday night that also applied to Cash For Kids as well as the league table.

This is not the place to pontificate on the shameful rise in the number of disadvantaged children in the West of Scotland, but it is the right spot to thank everyone who contributed towards the raising of £30,000 from Superscoreboard's auction.

Football as a force for good is a worthwhile story at a time when the game is enduring dark days of reflection on the horrendous abuse of youngsters within the game in a bygone era.

The good that was done on Saturday afternoon and evening will mean a happy interlude in the lives of so many needy children during this festive season.

There, that's what a sense of perspective really looks like.