We’ve been waiting 30 years for a proper battle

IF the 1960s are widely accepted to be the halcyon days for Scottish football, the 1980s were the years when our top division was at its most competitive.

Between 1980 and 1987, Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Rangers were all champions of Scotland. Hearts would have joined them if not for a fateful day at Dens Park in 1986.

Somewhere along the line, though, what was once a highly competitive league became a duopoly. Where once a blanket could have been thrown over five or six clubs at this point in the season, by the time of the new millennium, you would normally need a telescope to see the so-called challengers.

In that regard, for the neutral observer the current top flight standings make for fascinating and refreshing reading.

That Celtic are again on top and favourites for an eighth title in a row is a surprise to no one.

In Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor, James Forrest and others, Brendan Rodgers has players a cut above most in the league. Despite drawing a blank at Livingston on Sunday, they have looked back in the groove of late and went top for the first time this season.

But by no means have they had it all their own way this year and nor does anyone expect them to cruise to the title. They lost to Hearts and Kilmarnock and also drew with St Mirren and Livvy. That they are only top on goal difference gives hope to the chasing pack.

The question is whether the hunters can keep pace long enough to make the hunted feel a little hot under the collar.

Early season pace-setters Hearts have been ravaged with injuries to key players. We will never know just how damaging the absence of Steven Naismith, John Souttar, Uche Ikpeazu and Christophe Berra has been but we know it to be considerable.

Craig Levein, a veteran of that 1985-86 campaign, recently asked his depleted side to believe they could still be challengers but a 5-0 drubbing at Celtic Park underlined how arduous a task this will be.

Rangers look more likely to give Celtic a run for their money. Getting a handle on Steven Gerrard’s side this term has been a task akin to grabbing fog. Excellent in Europe and domestically at Ibrox, the ten points shipped on the road must be radically addressed to stand any chance of claiming the title.

But the fact they are presently just two points off the pace is encouraging. And if they record a first league win over Celtic in seven seasons on December 29 at Ibrox, belief will only grow.

Would anyone in their right mind discount Kilmarnock from being in the race as it enters its final straight? When a club can lay claim to being the form team in the country over the calendar year to date, it would be a business fraught with danger.

The fact Steve Clarke has had just one league defeat in eight matches to the Old Firm to date is frankly ludicrous but sums up the transformation he has overseen in the past 13 months.

A point behind them and just three off the pace, St Johnstone’s resurgence has ensured Tommy Wright’s early-season critics are now hiding under their beds.

The Perth side have smashed their all-time defensive record, winning five straight games without conceding.

Previously more workmanlike than a work of art, Saints are not only winning but regally entertaining. If Matty Kennedy and Drey Wright can keep up their current form after the international break, they will assuredly win more than they lose. Runners-up in the past four seasons, Aberdeen have taken time to come to the boil. Truth be told, despite winning their past four matches, the Dons are only yet simmering but the signs are more encouraging by the week. Livingston claimed the prize for the league’s surprise package while many were still sunning themselves on the beaches.

Despite going through managers like hot dinners for a spell, Gary Holt’s side seem unaware that newly-promoted sides are meant to struggle.

Neil Lennon will hope his team’s recent goal drought is temporary. His Hibernian side began the season scoring at will but have now failed to find the net in three outings.

The Easter Road boss will be uplifted, though, by the fact just eight points separate his eighth-placed side from Celtic.

For any club in the mix, a mini run of results can see them leap up the table like a hyperactive frog. But the slightest downturn can see you fall like a stone.

Neil Doncaster, the man tasked with securing the next SPFL TV deal, must view such a tight division as manna from heaven.

For the rest of us, it all just feels very 1980s. And not a bit of stonewashed denim in sight.