EVEN if Celtic had not got their act together over recent weeks this would be have the simplest of nights for them at Dens Park against a Dundee team in big trouble.

The champions, as you might expect, were in a different class and if anything found this game too easy. They overplayed at times but then they could afford to This did not look like a contest between teams from the same league. Come May, the Dens Park men may well find themselves in the Championship.

Dundee have three points after eleven Premiership games. They have changed managers but nothing has changed so far. There were a lot of empty seats at Dens Park although the game being show live on television would have kept more than a few in the house.

For all that Celtic were good, and some of the football was seriously good, Dundee are in a dire way.

Of course Dundee are not expected to challenge Celtic, not any more, but there was a lack of desire on the pitch which is not acceptable. Jim McIntyre has some job on his hands.

Brendan Rodgers wasn’t messing about. This was his strongest team available, he can smell blood, plus there was Daniel Arzani on the bench for the first time since arriving from Australia.

Celtic could easily have scored more. All the attacking players were on it from the start. They were also superb at retrieving possession on the rare occasions when it was lost.

It was a good night for Celtic but the songbook was far from pleasant. That the away support like a rebel tune is hardly news but the dreary Provo stuff and all that goes with it has been far more prevalent this season. The club should do something about this.

Anyway, to the football. Ryan Christie, the hero against Hearts, got things going properly with a well hit shot on the bounce after 13 minutes from distance which fizzed over the hand of Dundee goalkeeper Jack Hamilton but also the crossbar.

Not long after, Mikael Lustig tried his luck with a controlled half-volley which, again, was a touch too high. On both occasions Celtic appealed for corners that never came. It mattered little.

Tom Rogic doesn’t look like your typical player, his feet are too big for one, but this lad sure can play a bit. His goal on 20 minutes was a bit special.

Celtic kept pressing, Dundee could only do so much blocking, the ball got played to Rogic on the edge of the box, his shot perfectly beat Hamilton for height and power, the ball then dipped into the net.

Rogic was in a good mood. A wonderful 50 yards pass put Odsonne Edouard behind Darren O’Dea, Hamilton came off his line when he shouldn’t have, but just as the Frenchman was about to score, O’Dea got back to make a goal-saving sliding tackle.

An, but it was a matter of time before Celtic got another. It came on 33 minutes, Christie found Forrest with a pass which travelled half the length of the pitch, he squared to Rogic who scooped the ball into Lustig’s path and he went down when challenged by Dundee defender Glen Inniss.

It didn’t look like a penalty but referee Alan Muir pointed to the spot and even booked the defender. Scott Sinclair, as he did at Murrayfield, put the ball one way as the keeper went the other.

The inevitable third arrived on 38 minutes. Kieran Tierney had been a threat all half and superbly got past Cameron Kerr, hitting the by-line like an old fashioned winger, and his cut-back found James Forrest whose finish was superb.

On the stroke of half-time, Forrest nimbly made his way into Dundee’s box, he pinged a low cross to Edouard who needed one touch to pass the ball past a helpless Hamilton.

Some Dundee supporters left at the break. You couldn’t blame them. They missed a cracker three minutes into the second-half.

Celtic moved the ball quickly searching for an opening which was always going to come, Edouard intelligently took a touch and a second before playing slipping a pass through a gap which Christie had found and his finish topped a lovely move.

A fine Hamilton save denied Edouard send the ball into Dundee’s tip corner with a well-executed free-kick.

Lewis Morgan and Azrani were sent on before the hour, a debut for the Australian, as Rogic and Edouard had a rest. And Arzani’s great cross should have led to a Tierney goal, his shot went wide from a few feet out.

The man from Manchester City produced some nice moments but his night was to end badly. Dundee were guilty of a few hard challenges which crossed a line as tiredness and frustration got the better of them.

One of them on Arzani by Jesse Curran meant Celtic played out the last 12 minutes with ten men because the teenager wasn’t able to carry on.

Celtic now sit second. Their wobble as steadied. Surely it will only be a matter of time before they return to the Premiership’s number one position.