I may have said it before, on these very pages, but I once worked beside an old fella, a veteran of the Scottish newspaper industry, a one-time news editor and indeed Board member on various titles, who claimed there were few new news stories in the world, but, that they were only new to a different generation. I took a bit of convincing then, however, nowadays I tend to agree.

Perhaps not identical stories, but it is easy to find parallels, even events mirroring each other, along the way.

Celtic’s victory over Hearts on Sunday elevated the current Hoops squad to a new level of imperiousness and invincibility; today, they are 22 points ahead of second-placed Rangers, but, achieved that (league-winning) lead by remaining unbeaten in domestic competition – 27 games and counting – from the start of the season, so beating the tally assembled by the Lisbon Lions squad in 1966.

A truly great achievement from Brendan Rodgers and the team he has assembled, and one which, naturally, will see comparisons drawn between the present-day Hoops and those of the late, great Jock Stein.

Today, and in Stein’s era, Celtic recorded comparable results; the only points dropped this far was against Inverness Caley Thistle, as we speak, bottom of the SPFL table. In ’66, Celtic drew with St Mirren, who would eventually be relegated.

In November of 1966, and having trailed 2-0, Celtic squeezed past Dunfermline, 5-4 at East End Park, winning the game thanks to a last minute penalty from Joe McBride.

Sound familiar. Remember that 4-3 win over Motherwell at the start of December?

On just numbers, this Celtic side is better. However, add a splash of context and perspective, figures alone don’t convince me the record-setting class of 16/17 is as good as those from half a century ago who would eventually teach Europe a lesson.

To get to the 26-game unbeaten mark, both Celtic teams did so by winning the League Cup, and did so beating arch-rivals Rangers along the way, the current crop in the semi-finals, in 1966, in the final thanks to a Bobby Lennox goal.

But back then, Celtic beat Clyde twice in the group qualifying stage.

“Clyde?” as it was put to me the other day, followed by a snigger. Yes, and a Clyde team that would, by the end of that term, be the best of the rest in the Scottish League, finishing third behind runners-up Rangers.

And that Rangers team. Yes, they were the bunch that lost so ignominiously to the wee Rangers from Berwick in the Scottish Cup. Nevertheless, they were also the side that a few months later, having seen off the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Real Zaragoza and Slavia Sofia, would contest the Cup-Winners-Cup final against Bayern Munich.

Today’s Rangers, languishing in the wake of Celtic, doesn’t come remotely close to Scot Symon’s men, apart perhaps, from the colour of their jerseys.

It’s also worth remembering that for a part of 66/67 campaign, Celtic were pressed by Kilmarnock. Again, some will compare like with like with the Killie of today. But back then, that same Kilmarnock had been third in the league, just a season after they’d won the Championship. And to avoid any confusion, that was the old money terminology for what is today’s Premiership.

All of which, to my mind at least, makes what the likes of Simpson, McNeill, Johnstone and Lennox achieved all the greater, purely by the quality of the challengers they faced.

Not that you could ever knock Scott Brown’s band of brothers for what they’ve done, namely, seen off what is in front of them.

And now, what is on the horizon, is the chance to make more history, break more records, and achieve the status of ‘Invincibles,’ not just a label attached by some marketeers or PR spin doctors trying to sell kit and tickets, but by going through a season, unbeaten domestically.

Can Celtic do it? I see no reasons why it can’t be done.

It’s not as if they need to chase games in the league to make certain of another title.

In the Scottish Cup, where pressure may mount to secure the third part of a treble, Celtic’s route to more silverware would hardly be considered treacherous if teams simply fall over in front of them, as Aberdeen did in the League Cup decider.

The best could still be to come.

So well done Celtic, to Brendan Rodgers and the players. Just don’t expect me to get caught up in the hype and social-media euphoria generated from being the very best of a bad bunch.

Still, it’s 27 and counting – or 13 and counting in all competitions.

But that’s one to pursue another day …