What must Fenerbahce be thinking? If drawing 0-0 at home with a club widely predicted to make an immediate return to the First Division this season was a deliberate ploy to confuse, then Rangers are to be congratulated.
Defeat to Scottish Premier League newcomers Livingston, of course, would have sent out an even more bemusing signal to the Istanbul club who Rangers face in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round on Wednesday.
By quarter to five on Saturday the SPL was led by Dunfermline. Seven goals from two wins, the latest against a woefully uncreative St Johnstone, is beginning to erase the memory of last season's final stretch when they threw away the opportunity of a top-half finish in the SPL, and went into freefall.
Dunfermline's tenure at the top will be helped by a league that is already starting to stretch out. Hibernian, third last season, lost out to Dundee, St Johnstone and Aberdeen have yet to get off the mark while Motherwell and Dundee United merely produced a goalless draw.
And though Hearts' 1-0 win over Aberdeen made some amends for losing at Livingston last week, the manner of their victory is unlikely to inspire trepidation. For a semblance of normal service, Celtic's prolific Henrik Larsson proved to be the difference between the champions and Kilmarnock in an evening encounter. His 75th-minute goal was a moment of subtlety that contrasted with some brutish challenges, not least one by the debutant John Hartson on the Kilmarnock defender Chris Innes that might have merited a dismissal.
Red will certainly be in plenty of evidence on Wednesday when Celtic travel to play Ajax in their Champions League qualifier.
Meanwhile, Ajax manager Co Adriaanse claims his side will not be quaking in their boots at the prospect of facing Celtic new-boy John Hartson - but he admits Henrik Larsson is causing him concern.
He said: "One chance, one goal. But I was not impressed with John Hartson. I have no fears of him.
My players will deal with him, not easily but they will deal with him.
"Larsson is more dangerous because of his quickness. He has very good technical skills. He is an intelligent player who keeps his cool.
"I think he is Celtic's best player. We might need two players for him, because to leave him one-on-one with someone would be too dangerous "The other Celtic players I liked were Neil Lennon, who is very important to the strategy in midfield and Johan Mjallby, who is the leader of the defence. I know Joos Valgaeren well from his time at Roda." The stakes will be high in Amsterdam as this two-legged clash represents the final hurdle to negotiate before the lucrative group stages.
And Adriaanse insisted his side, who finished third in the Dutch league last season, were underdogs despite being the seeded side.
He said: "Having seen Celtic three times - against Sunderland, Manchester United and now Kilmarnock - I feel exactly the same as I did when the draw was made.
"Celtic are the favourites because they are the champions of a league which they won easily from a Rangers team full of Dutch international players."
Hartson began on the bench at Rugby Park but was handed a debut in the 19th minute when Bobby Petta limped off with a leg muscle injury.
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill was not certain whether the player had been suffering from cramp or a more serious pull but if Petta does not regain fitness by Wednesday night then Steve Guppy will be handed his Hoops debut.
The £700,000 signing from Leicester City will play on the left, a side of the pitch that has become a concern for O'Neill because Alan Thompson, his other regular option there, is suspended.
Guppy was left out of the 16 yesterday, as was fellow new signing Momo Sylla and the veteran Lubo Moravcik. All three will travel to Amsterdam and O'Neill gave a broad hint that Moravcik had been kept fresh for a start on Wednesday.
He said: "Lubo is capable of doing something a bit special for us. I told him beforehand he wouldn't be playing at Kilmarnock. He had a magnificent season for us last season and I'm hoping to be using him in the same way."
Kilmarnock have their own European campaign worries, with midfielder Jesus Sanjuan doubtful for the UEFA Cup trip to Glenavon on Thursday.
He limped off with a hamstring injury and manager Bobby Williamson admitted: "It will probably keep him out for a while."
Williamson has added to his squad over the summer but so far only striker Michel Ngonge, who gave the Celtic defence plenty of problems, has started.
Mickael Pizzo, a midfielder, had only a brief taste as a substitute at Hibernian and fellow Frenchman David Merdy has yet to feature at all.
