Another record for Celtic, but what of the SPL future?

And that was that, another record gone by the wayside as the league title was decided in record time.

Bypass the all-singing, all-dancing English Premier League, beyond the northern border where, on Sunday,

Celtic wrapped up the Scottish equivalent with a 5-0 thrashing of Heart of Midlothian.

That's in addition to the League Cup won in November - and few would bet against the Brendan Rodgers coached side from taking the Scottish Cup as well for a rare domestic treble.

They face Rangers in the semi-final later this month.

Such is the dominance by Rodgers' side it is feasible that Celtic could set a new league points record and even go the entire season unbeaten.

By sealing the league crown in Edinburgh on Sunday it ensured they lifted the trophy with eight games to go, a game less than the previous record.

Along the way Celtic set a new domestic mark for unbeaten games, which was set in 1967 by the Celtic team that won the European Cup. There isn't a gulf between Scotland's best side and the rest, there's an ocean.

Does this show, therefore, that Liverpool made the biggest mistake since George Best sipped on his first beer, and got rid of Rodgers too quickly?

Or does it just show that any gaffer with a little nous can take a team to glory in the cash-strapped SPL?

And if you shout for the latter, think of this: if Chelsea or a Manchester side stormed to the title in record time would the claim be that they are a brilliant side or the rest of the league is garbage?

At Anfield the northern Irishman almost won the English Premier League for the Reds for first time in two decades in 2013-14, only to be let down by a draw against lowly Crystal Palace in the run-in that let Manchester City slip past and take the crown.

By October 2015 Rodgers was gone, a victim of a panicky board that winced upon seeing Liverpool slip to 10th in the league.

There's no gratitude in English football, where winning equals money.

But the decision to give Rodgers the heave ho may not necessarily have been the correct one, with his highly-paid successor Jurgen Klopp struggling to ignite the fuse once again on Merseyside.

Expectations are extremely high in that corner of England ever since the heady, dominant days of the 1970s and 80s and no manager since Bob Paisley has been able to - or been given the time - to build a side capable of wrestling the league title away from the Manchester and London sides (and Leicester too).

So, Liverpool's woes were Celtic's gains as Rodgers immediately consolidated Celtic's domestic domination and turned it from being European lightweights to a side that makes the best clubs feel uncomfortable - as Manchester City can testify.

But it doesn't sound as if any Celtic manager could possibly have much to worry about with traditional rival Rangers being liquidated in 2012 and having to start anew in the fourth tier, and only Aberdeen showing some appetite for challenging Celtic's hegemony.

Under Norwegian coach Ronnie Deila for two seasons, Celtic looked happy to canter to a pair of league titles while waiting for the challenge, once again, from the team from Ibrox.

Failures in the two domestic cups and humiliation by moderate Scandinavian teams were unacceptable to the fans, and so Rodgers was drafted in after Deila opted to move on feeling he couldn't improve the team.

It was a logical choice.

A boyhood fan, Rodgers not only had Celtic in his heart he had a feted reputation wherever he had managed. This is an A-list manager, at a B-list club in a C-list league.

At Parkhead the Irishman has transformed players who appeared more likely to be hailing taxis outside the stadium as the new season loomed.

He also found talent lurking in summer signings Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele who is now valued at anywhere between GBP 10 and 40 million depending on the day and the source.

As I predicted in my season preview Rangers would crumble in the red-hot pressure pot of the SPL.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/311985/an-intriguing-season-of-scottish-fitba-to-come

Beating the likes of Peterhead and Cowdenbeath as they moved through the lower leagues tells very little; they needed to become battle-hardened by facing the best 11 teams in the country week in, week out.

They opted to rely on veterans Niko Kranjcar, Clint Hill and Phillipe Senderos and the former England international and prisoner Joey Barton, among others such as the $3.5 million dollar striker Joe Garner.

Only Hill made some impression. Garner rarely hit the net and hothead Barton was on his way south after he willingly expressed his opinions on a 5-1 loss to Celtic in his inimitable manner.

Coach Mark Warburton didn't even last the season and all that Rangers have to show for a miserable campaign is a likely place in the Europa League where they will start in the first of four qualifying rounds in a bid just to make the group stage.

It's a far cry from 2008 when, under Walter Smith, the team made the final of the same competition.

The club began the campaign by claiming they were Going for 55, as in league titles, but are foundering just getting to 55 points.

While you would expect a newly-promoted team to take some time to adjust to the elevated standards, Rangers have the second biggest budget in Scotland and crowds of well over 40,000.

Their failure was a boom for fans of other clubs, but heartbreaking for its own supporters.

There seems little suggestion of a rapid turnaround in fortunes, however, and the path seems clear for Celtic to go on and win ten titles in a row (they are now on six), beating their own and Rangers' records of nine.

That would crush the other Glasgow side and leave them facing an uncertain future.