Brendan Rodgers has taken charge of Celtic in four league games at Ibrox. Not only has he won on all four occasions, he has done so by an aggregate scoreline of 12-4
When you take into account the various hammerings that Celtic have dished out to their rivals at Parkhead and Hampden under the Northern Irishman, that number soon resembles a cricket score
That's the narrative that Steven Gerrard and Rangers must change heading into this weekend's Old Firm derby
Ibrox is now a venue where Celtic simply turn up and expect to win. The fear factor has gone and victories are almost met with a shrug of indifference
Rangers should forget about the title race for a moment. From their point of view, Saturday's game is about putting an end to Rodgers' flawless record and stemming the flow
The fans will demand to see some pride restored on home soil. They must be sick of not just losing to Celtic in recent years, but being totally humiliated in certain games
It's all a far cry from how things used to be - and I'm not talking about decades or generations ago
After joining the club in 2011, I went on to spend six seasons as a Celtic player
Not once did I finish on the winning side at Ibrox. Never. Now look at it. Celtic players make the journey across Glasgow and think all their Christmases have come at once with how easy they've had it
Gerrard and his players must put a stop to that because, if they can, then they could quite feasibly find themselves at the top of the league heading into the New Year
A massive week begins on Boxing Day when they entertain Hibs, while Rodgers and his side travel to face Aberdeen at Pittodrie
Those are two huge games in their own right - and neither Rangers nor Celtic are guaranteed to pick up three points
Ultimately, though, I fancy both of them to get the job done and set up a mouth-watering contest on Saturday
If both teams do win in midweek, then Rangers will go into the Old Firm match knowing that victory would send them top heading into the winter break
Gerrard would play down the significance of that, but, for the fans and the players, it would give them a huge psychological boost heading into the second half of the season
League tables are never defined at the end of December, but, at the start of the season, nobody gave Gerrard a prayer of sitting top at the midway point
If he can achieve that, it would mark a decent checkpoint in his rookie season as a manager
The fact that we even have a conversation about who is going to be top of the league at this time of year is a refreshing change
The next time you hear anyone bleating on about how boring Scottish football is, tell them to button it
Our game is truly alive and well. Over the past six weeks, we've seen Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Kilmarnock all swapping positions with each other at the top of the pile
The criticism of Scottish football over recent years has been that Celtic will romp it, but, this year, it's one of the tightest and most competitive leagues in Europe
At one point, the team at the top of the Premiership actually changed six times in the space of a fortnight
That's anything but boring. Right now, there are just 11 points separating the top eight teams
The top eight in the English Premier League, meanwhile, are separated by a comparative chasm of 22 points
In France, Paris Saint-Germain are already a ridiculous 13 points ahead - with two games in hand over their nearest competitors
In Italy, Juventus are eight points clear of Napoli at the top - and 16 points clear of third-placed Inter Milan
Just a couple of years ago, Scottish football was starting to look like Formula One back in the early 2000s
That was the period when people just switched off from it because they knew Michael Schumacher and Ferrari would cruise it every year
Celtic were, in effect, the footballing equivalent of Schumacher. But the German's dominance was ended when a young lad by the name of Fernando Alonso came along
Whether Gerrard and Rangers can assume the same role as Alonso, only time will tell - but victory on Saturday would do wonders for their confidence
It's not like Celtic are having a bad season, either. They have been scoring goals, keeping clean sheets, and hitting some good form over the past couple of months
For all the progress that Rangers have made, imagine how deflating it would be if Celtic go there and stick another four or five goals past their rivals
Gerrard and his players simply cannot allow that to happen. There are some managers who beat around the bush far too much when it comes to answering questions about their teams
They sometimes seem scared of upsetting players and potentially losing the respect of the dressing room
In some cases, an under-performing group of players are afforded far too much protection when a manager would be within his rights to take a flamethrower to them
Neil Lennon certainly falls into the second of those categories and he will be furious at how inconsistent his Hibs team have been recently
I know from first-hand experience that the one thing Lennon hates above all else is when he feels that players are slacking
He won't hesitate to call them out for it because he feels it's unprofessional. It doesn't matter if you're playing Ross County or Barcelona, your levels of application should always be the same
This is a huge week for Lennon - and the same applies to his Edinburgh rival Craig Levein
Hibs have been so hot and cold. They had an excellent victory over Celtic, then go and draw at home to Livingston just a week later
They now head into a game with Rangers at Ibrox on Boxing Day, before hosting Hearts in the derby on Saturday
Even if they get a couple of positive results, what would it actually prove? We know that Hibs invariably produce the goods in big games
No one has ever doubted that. But their inconsistency against the lesser teams is what must infuriate Lennon
If Hibs can take four points from those two games, that would represent a solid return and provide some stability heading into the winter break
Levein and Hearts, meanwhile, have to steady the ship. After such a positive start, their season is now rocking
Even when they get all their top players back fit again, what good will that be if they've plummeted down the league table by then? They play Hamilton at Tynecastle on Boxing Day before travelling to Leith to face their city rivals
In the context of both clubs' seasons, this feels like it could be a defining week
Aberdeen got off to a really slow start this season and, at one point, some of their fans were beginning to ask serious questions of Derek McInnes - but they're heading into the festive period just three points off first place
Most teams would bite your hand off to be having as 'bad' a season as that. Sam Cosgrove now has six goals in his last four games and, suddenly, is beginning to look a hell of a player
The Dons have now won four games on the bounce. They - and Cosgrove - look a team and player reborn
If the striker can maintain this consistency over the second half of the season, there's no reason why they can't stick around and challenge at the top
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