At a moment in time when Scottish football has so much to feel excited about, some age-old embarrassments continue to tarnish its reputation.
Another barnstormer of a weekend has added significant weight to the theory the Scottish top flight has not been in better shape or showcased so much quality for many years.
Results in Dundee and at Ibrox yesterday afternoon also indicated we will indeed have a genuine, punch for punch title fight to enjoy over the coming weeks and months.
An authentic, compelling battle for supremacy, which could very well go all the way to the wire.
And all of this just before the domestic game steps to one side, allowing Steve Clarke and his boys to take centre stage as they close in on a play-off that could carry the nation to a first World Cup finals in 24 years.
All of it points to better days ahead and good times to come for a game that has been battered from pillar to post for longer than any of us care to remember.
And yet, here we are again, being dragged back into Groundhog Day all because of Celtic ’s troublesome relationship with Remembrance Sunday and Rangers ’ difficulties with balancing the books.
Sunday at Dens Park provided, perhaps, the perfect example.
This was a day which was there to be enjoyed.
For 90 minutes Ange Postecoglou ’s Celtic put on precisely the kind of thrills and spills performance promised as part of the package when the big Aussie first took on the job of fashioning a phoenix from the flames of last season.
That the manager conceded after this thumping 4-2 win that his side are still miles away from where he wants them to be was a tantalising tease of what might be to come under his stewardship.
If this is just the start, then Postecoglou’s end game could truly be something to behold because, for long spells of this latest win, his players were a demolition squad.
Once they work out how to defend cross balls and corner kicks, they really will be a force to be reckoned with.
There is a relentlessness about Celtic’s attacking play which was so ferocious that it was possible to feel sorry for James McPake’s players, who did well not to be suffocated by the sheer intensity of it.
That they did not fold completely under such pressure will have come as some comfort to McPake who, despite seeing his side ship four goals, will also have been delighted with the resilience of his players.
Had they not stood up to the task with such determination and resolve, this could quickly have deteriorated into a gory massacre of a beating.
In the end, they simply could not contain the quality that was coming after them in green and white waves, and with two players in particular.
In Jota and Kyogo Furuhashi, Postecoglou has unearthed a couple of outrageously talented attackers.
Their swashbuckling approach to winning matches means that watching Celtic go about their business ought to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
But what went on before kick-off on Tayside, when a tiresome, hardcore element of the travelling support shouted and bawled their way through a minute’s silence, was a toe-curling affront to human decency and a reminder Celtic have some serious housekeeping to attend to where the club’s reputation is concerned.
That the club opt out of wearing poppies on their shirts is a knee bend to the obnoxious militants who didn’t think twice about doing such damage to their own club on national TV yesterday lunchtime.
As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough that they could not bring themselves to stay silent out of respect to the dead for 60 seconds, they then opened up a song book which belongs to a very different time and place than 21st century Scotland.
It’s no wonder Postecoglou wished to distance himself from this obscenity afterwards as he said: “From my perspective, we try to observe these things in the most respectful manner we can and I’d encourage everyone to do that.”
Postecoglou, it must be said, has handled himself with a great deal of dignity throughout what will
doubtless have been trying times over these first few months in Glasgow.
After a great deal of hard work on the training pitch, he is now delivering a team Celtic’s support can be proud of. He’d clearly prefer it to be a two-way street.
The vast majority of decent supporters – indeed the silent majority – will also have been dismayed by this latest grotesque act.
But the truth is, until Celtic’s board tackle this problem head on rather than pander to it, we’ll still be having these same conversations this time every year. Which is a thoroughly depressing thought.
Over at Ibrox, meanwhile, at least we know why Steven Gerrard was so bristly when asked about his plans for the January transfer market ahead of the Europa League tie with Brondby.
He will have known the club were about to announce eye-watering losses in excess of £23million.
That the men at the top of the staircase continue to pony up such enormous sums of money and show no sign of heading for the hills, let alone upping sticks for a compound in South Africa, should come as a source of comfort to the manager and the club’s fans.
But, in order for Rangers to move towards some sort of financial sustainability, it does seem as if the manager may soon be asked to part company with one or two of his most valued performers.
Gerrard’s most pressing concern will focus on the habit of giving away a one-goal handicap almost every time his players step on to a pitch.
That it happened again at home to Ross County will have tested his patience as much as it stretched the boundaries of belief.
Rangers recovered to stay four points clear, which will have improved his irritable mood for the time being.
But there could be more awkward discussions to come between now and the January sales.
