THIS was an emphatic victory for the new Celtic, symbolically achieved without the talents of the biggest standard bearer for the old Celtic.

Kris Commons, who didn't travel to Dingwall, ostensibly because of his ongoing nagging gluteal muscle injury, could still be a big part of a bright shiny future at Parkhead should he conclude his protracted negotiations to extend his contract beyond the summer of 2015. Indeed, manager Ronny Deila was bullish after the match about persuading him to do precisely that.

But last year's PFA Scotland and Scottish Football Writers Association player of the year may always be more closely associated with his old manager Neil Lennon, the Northern Irishman who has been credited with an interest in taking him to Bolton Wanderers in the past few days. If this was a glimpse of life without him, it didn't look too bad.

Perhaps tellingly, in a match in which Celtic had racked up a four-goal lead before half time, the key role came from the man who replaced him at the apex of the Parkhead midfield three. Stefan Johansen may have been brought to Celtic Park by Lennon, but Ronny Deila's teacher's pet from his past life at Stromsgodset had a hand in three goals and should have scored a couple himself.

The Norwegian has come in for criticism at times during Celtic's faltering start to the season, and to say that he offers a different skill set to that of Commons is to wildly understate the case. In fact, the 31 goals which Commons knocked in last season is the kind of tally which Johansen could play his entire career and not surpass.

But he also has eight years on him and has spent most of this campaign selflessly filling in for either Scott Brown or Charlie Mulgrew in one of the two deeper midfield spots, or even being shunted out wide left.

On Saturday, with Celtic's two most reliable holding midfielders available, Commons' non-appearance allowed the Norwegian to take possession of his preferred habitat further up the field and he appeared distinctly liberated by the experience. His high-energy pressing, thrusting runs from midfield, and eye for a pass seemed perfect for Deila's cherished 4-2-3-1 shape, and made him a deserved man of the match.

Whatever happens in Commons' ongoing contract negotiations, one scenario which is particularly difficult to envisage is the 31-year-old suddenly becoming more central to Deila's Celtic than Johansen. Instead, a more likely scenario would have Commons, assuming he stays, assuming the role currently occupied by Callum McGregor on the right, a mirror image to the way the right-footed Anthony Stokes has re-invented himself by posing danger coming in off the left flank. Loan signings Aleksandr Tonev and Mubarak Wakaso are also alternatives out wide.

Such idle speculation, of course, is predicated on the Parkhead side maintaining this kind of form, something they have been unable to achieve so far this season. There have been false dawns already, most notably the 6-1 defeat against Dundee United, and the Deila project has been unable to prove to date that it can withstand the rigours of Europa League football.

The Parkhead side now enter a period of six matches in three weeks before the international break, a calendar which includes back-to-back Europa League meetings with Romanian side FC Astra, a Glasgow derby of a League Cup quarter-final tie against Partick Thistle and a league visit to Pittodrie. The world will only believe they have truly turned a corner if they can put a run together.

"Stefan was excellent in Dingwall, especially in the first half," said McGregor. "He is really good with driving runs and pressing people. He and Scott Brown set the tone for us and get into team's faces and then they also have the composure to go and play. He gives you intelligence on the ball with good passes through the lines. He can also do the defensive role and gets about people. Broony is the same and they both were excellent against Ross County."

Brown also set the tone for his team with some truth telling in the wake of the home defeat by Hamilton Academical a fortnight ago. While McGregor was essentially blameless as he missed that match with injury, he none the less said the soul searching session had paid dividends.

"I think there were some frustrations taken out," said McGregor. "Scott had his opinion [after the Hamilton game] and he was very much entitled to have it. The Hamilton game was poor, but the boys put it right in Dingwall and we now want to go on a real run now.

"We had to wait a couple of weeks after the Hamilton result with the boys being away on international duty," he added. "We had a few meetings to look back over the Hamilton game and see where we could do things better. Everyone knew what was expected of them at Dingwall and what is expected over the weeks to come. Players gave opinions. It's not just two or three men talking. Everyone has to have their say.

"We knew we had to make a statement in Dingwall and I felt as though we did that. We started unbelievably well with two quick goals and we just went from strength to strength. It was just a case of seeing it out after the interval. We worked on our movement Thursday and Friday to try and get some fluidity into our runs from midfield and the ones up top.

"It's good you seeing it working and there was a real work ethic. Whenever we lost the ball, we hunted it back and that was nice to see."

Ross County merely had the misfortune to be on the wrong end of a mauling, unable until the dying stages of the match to maintain any meaningful possession in the opposition half. Michael Gardyne rattled a post for them late on but the main source of consolation for the SPFL Premiership's basement side is that their season will not be defined by meetings against Celtic.

Whether the old or new version.