Celtic's judgement should come in Europe this season as they continue their Premiership dominance. Saturday brought another win, and against the most in-form team not named Celtic, with St Mirren having picked up 10 points from their first four games, which was only two less than the Hoops.
The Buddies were well organised and showed plenty of quality, but Celtic were able to overcome a one goal deficit and win thanks to goals from Liam Scales and Yang Hyun-jun, and they were unlucky not to get more, with Camilo Duran and Shim Mheuka both seeing goals ruled out for narrow offsides.
Celtic look really sharp going forward, and they have real attacking depth that is going to mean they are problem for Premiership defences all season. They also have a good enough defence, and while there is not enough depth on the left, they still have Alistair Johnston to come back in to make them even stronger on the right.
The bottom line is, and this is with no disrespect to Celtic's rivals, because they are still going to have to earn it, and they are not going to win every game, but the Bhoys are extremely likely to win the Premiership title.
They have things they still need to improve, but they are too good for their rivals at this stage. Now you never know, injuries happen, and form changes, but if Celtic average a 7/10 performance every week, they are going to be too good.
What is going to be more interesting, and what Martin O'Neill and this Celtic side should be judged on is their European form, We all know Celtic are going to win the league the vast majority of seasons, but we do need to see improvement in Europe.
That Champions League qualifying collapses have exposed a lack of quality, and the Hoops have rarely done well in the Europa League, losing to Stuttgart in the knockout playoffs last season.
We need to see this Celtic team in the quarter-finals or semi-finals to deem a season a true success, even with domestic dominance.
Those European games are the true litmus test for a club that needs to prove itself on the European stage, even if winning European competitions is not particularly realistic based on budgets and the types of clubs who win the competitions.
This squad is capable of getting through a few rounds in Europe, and failure to do so would point to stagnation.
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