In a season like no other, the Premiership has taken a mid-season break for the World Cup in Qatar this winter.
Not quite at the half-way point of the campaign, the table is beginning to take shape in Scotland's top flight.
Here's how Herald & Times have reviewed the season so far.
Best team
Celtic. The most straight-forward answer here. The champions look red hot under Ange Postecoglou once again, building on what they started last year. Some of their free flowing attacking football has been joyful to watch. Also, they have shown they have the metal to contend with setbacks and fight to the bitter end to ensure the three-points stay with them.
Most demoralising defeat
It terms of the outlook of the season, it must be said that the first derby between Celtic and Rangers produced a shocker for the away side. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men were blown away by their hosts in Glasgow's east end. Celtic laid down a marker and Rangers have never really recovered, with further poor results against Livingston, St Johnstone and St Mirren leading to calls for the manager to be sacked. The aforementioned 9-0 drubbing of Dundee United by Celtic also deserves a shout in this category, with United still bottom of the table at present.
Best signing
This mid-season award will be jointly awarded to Bojan Miovski of Aberdeen and Rangers' Anontio Colak. Both have scored 11 Premiership goals since joining in the summer. They are tied at the top of the goalscoring charts. The former has provided a much-needed lethal touch up top for Jim Goodwin's side. The reality is, he could've had more had he not missed a couple of recent penalties. Colak has been Rangers' main success story this season. After a slow start, the Croatian quickly found his feet and became the club's top striker. He's filled the boots of Morelos nicely and can be proud of his performances to date.
Forgotten man
Aiden McGeady has without doubt been very unlucky with injury since joining Hibs. That doesn't change the fact that you could forgive fans for forgetting about him joining the Easter Road club. He was ruled out in the opening stages for Lee Johnson's side, with the ex-Celtic man sitting in the stands since. Another player who has become an afterthought is Oliver Abildgaard. He's not really had a chance in the first team at Celtic to show what he can do in midfield since joining on loan.
Biggest disappointment
This category could be spun in a few different ways depending on your perspective. For example, the introduction VAR has hardly been a success so far. However, for this, we note Alfredo Morelos' performances. Reporting back unfit and with major questions marks over his attitude, he's just never got going this season. After being a talisman for the Ibrox club for so long, there's no doubt Rangers have missed him. Not just his goals, but his hold-up and link-up play. It's difficult to see where Morelos goes from here in terms of recovering his Rangers career. It seems likely that he will be off at the end of his contract next summer.
The sacking
There has only been one sacking during the course of the season itself, with Graham Alexander departing Motherwell prior to the start of the campaign. It also came early doors with Jack Ross leaving Dundee United in August. After an outstanding 1-0 home win over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League qualifiers, the Tannadice side were then beaten 7-0 in the away leg. Concerningly, their dismal form continued in the opening month with defeats to Livingston, St Mirren and finally Celtic. A 9-0 mauling at home was enough to cost Ross his job after less than two-months in charge.
Biggest beneficiaries of World Cup break
There are a couple of teams who fall into this section. From Hearts to Kilmarnock, some teams need to regroup in terms of their form, but also to get players back from injury. Perhaps the team that needed a break the most, though, was Rangers. Nine points behind in the title race, results were not picking up any time soon. With this pause in the season, Rangers can make up their minds with regards to their manager one way or the other. Van Bronckhorst could benefit from some time away, but also the chance to get some of his best players back from injury by the time the next game comes around. On the flip side, should he go , it gives a new man a chance to bed in for a sort of mini pre-season type period.
Best XI so far
4-3-3: Kelle Roos (Aberdeen); Nicky Devlin (Livingston), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Jack Fitzwater (Livingston), Greg Taylor (Celtic); Reo Hatate (Celtic), Keanu Baccus (St Mirren), Matt O'Riley (Celtic); Jota (Celtic), Antonio Colak (Rangers), Bojan Miovski (Aberdeen).
