This could be the week which has made Celtic’s season. On Sunday, Rangers were knocked out the Scottish Cup by Dundee Utd while Celtic progressed past Caley Thistle, leaving the path all but clear to Hampden. On Wednesday, the Bhoys travels to Edinburgh saw them come away with a 4-0 thrashing over Hearts in the league. Thursday uncovered some possible financial road blocks to the possibility of a Rangers takeover from former owner Alastair Johnston. And on Sunday, Celtic withstood late pressure from Inverness, along with some very poor refereeing decisions to win the game 1-0, extending their winning streak to 14 in the league.

The midweek win for Celtic at Hearts was certainly a morale booster. For any club the fans and atmosphere at Tynecastle can be intimidating and so to win, and to win in the manner they did will give both Celtic fans, players and staff alike a confidence going into the final few months of the season.

It was a brilliant match, full of real end-to-end football and while Celtic played superbly, Hearts were unlucky not to have a goal to their name by the end of the ninety minutes. Scott Brown put in a true captain’s performance, playing a part in three of the four Celtic goals, continuing his incredible run of form for the Glasgow club and scoring his first goal against Hearts since he joined Celtic from Hibs in 2007.

 Kenyan midfielder, Victor Wanyama, who won the January SPL Player of the Month award, scored a fantastic goal, again asserting his place in the first team. He has proved to be an excellent replacement for Beram Kayal, who is still out of action through an ankle injury. It will be interesting to see how easily the Israeli central midfielder will find his place in the Starting 11again, considering the blistering form of those currently playing in his absence.

And as I write this the breaking story has come up the BBC Sport website that Rangers are going down the route of administration. My immediate thoughts, even (or especially) as a Celtic fan are that it is a very sad, or even worrying, sight to see. It is hard for a league to operate when only two teams have a hope of winning each year, when, as you assume they will, Celtic begin winning every trophy every season, the interest and support for the SPL will diminish completely.

This could mean that Celtic seek refuge in the English league system, but what then? We cannot hope to compete with the teams in the upper half of the Premier League, barely even with many of the Championship teams, and without any possibility of European football, and with fans having lost interest in the Scottish game altogether, Celtic too would be at serious risk of financial trouble.

And as well over half of the followers of Scottish football worldwide support either Celtic or Rangers, what will this move mean for the rest of the teams in the league. Yes, it is possible that fans may turn to other local Scottish clubs, and the loss of one of the “two giants” will mean that all the smaller clubs will have greater opportunities in cup competitions. But this isn’t really what any fans of Scottish football want. Despite Celtic’s chief executive, Peter Lawwell’s, insistence that “we don’t need Rangers”, we absolutely do, as a league without them will simply not function properly. Sports without competitiveness are nothing, they have no value.

As administration will mean a ten-point deduction for Rangers, this year’s title race is all but ended, as only a miracle will overturn an eleven-point deficit in the league. Although in the SPL, with two old firms remaining, you can never say never. Despite the point deduction, Rangers will remain in second place in the league, evidence of the extent to which the SPL is a two-team league, if any were needed.

Apologies for the disjointedness of the article (due to breaking news halfway through its writing).