THE strangest of seasons has delivered a conventional conclusion.

Celtic were widely tipped to win the championship at a canter when it became apparent last summer that they would not be sharing a division with Rangers for the first time in their history and they have now done so, Neil Lennon's side clinching a second successive Scottish Premier League title courtesy of the 4-1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

If their final placing will surprise nobody, then perhaps the manner in which Celtic have done so will draw greater analysis. There were bookmakers offering odds that they would get through the league campaign without losing a single game, and they found takers for that bet, too. Celtic have lost six of their 33 league games played so far – and drawn a further six – thus further explaining why bookies drive big cars and live in mansions.

Celtic can finish the season with a maximum of 84 points should they win their five remaining league games. That will be nine short of the 93 they accrued last year on their way to a first championship in four seasons. As runners-up in 2010/11 they collected 92 points, and even the disastrous Tony Mowbray season of 2009/10 delivered 81, due largely to Lennon's temporary stewardship when Celtic regained some pride in the closing weeks.

With no Old Firm matches to trouble them, the feeling was that this could, perhaps should, have been a record-breaking season for Celtic. Instead it has been an up-and-down campaign, the team never in any real danger of not winning the championship but never allowed to feel entirely comfortable, either.

Rangers weren't there, so Celtic became the fixture the other teams raised their game for. St Johnstone, Kilmarnock, Inverness, Hibernian, Motherwell and Ross County all recorded league wins that they will look back fondly on for years to come. For Celtic, embarrassment has been only fleeting.

The argument that the strongest squad in the league should have been virtually infallible neglects to take human nature into account. Celtic have stated repeatedly that Rangers' absence has made little difference to their motivation levels this season, but results and performances suggest otherwise. With none of the other challengers – Hibs and Aberdeen, initially, Motherwell and Inverness after Christmas – showing the requisite consistency to put up a genuine title challenge, it was only natural that Celtic's standards would drop from time to time.

Rangers' presence in the past tended to eliminate any room for error but without that, or another team of that capability, then Celtic were aware, if only subconsciously, that dropped points would not come back to haunt them. Even following a patchy season by their standards, they will still likely finish up at least 20 points clear at the top.

In the coming days, numerous Celtic voices will present the argument that Rangers not being there has made little difference to the achievement. A championship is still a championship, after all, but there is undoubtedly a low-key feeling surrounding it. With Motherwell playing on Friday night, Celtic had been aware they would perhaps need only a point against Inverness to seal the title and yet ticket sales were slow; the club putting up extra players at media conferences during the week to help drum up support.

Part of the joy for Old Firm fans when celebrating a championship usually comes from the knowledge that, by doing so, you have rubbed the other half's nose in it. There may be a feeling among some Celtic fans that it doesn't feel quite the same when they have been denied the pleasure of seeing Rangers suffer on the way to lifting the trophy. Beating the likes of County and St Mirren on the way to a championship may feel, to some, like something of a hollow victory.

The other mitigating factor in Celtic's early season turbulence is, of course, the Champions League. In a season where the league trophy was expected rather than hoped for, success was always going to be measured by how far the club progressed in Europe. Qualifying for the last 16 by winning away to Spartak Moscow and at home to Barcelona meant any slip-ups in the league were almost immediately forgiven.

If there are any gripes among the Celtic support about how the team has played in the league this season then presumably they are tempered by an acknowledgement that the team's journey through the Champions League was of greater importance. It is surely more than a coincidence that the first three league defeats of the season arrived in the same week as a European tie.

Celtic would finish the season with a domestic double if they topple Hibs in the William Hill Scottish Cup final, and may regret not making a better fist of the Scottish Communities League Cup in which they were knocked out by St Mirren at the semi-final stage. They will be expected to do better next year. They always are.