Evening Times duo Ronnie Cully and Thomas Jordan are joined in the studio by The Herald's Darryl Broadfoot and the Sunday Herald's Stewart Fisher, to reflect on midweek wins for Rangers and Celtic in the SPL.

CELTIC boss Gordon Strachan today cast his mind back 12 months to ease the pain of a future without Scott Brown.

Strachan concedes having to play the opening two games after the split - the first of which will almost certainly be against Rangers at Ibrox - without the man he reckons could easily be considered the best player in the country is a massive blow. ONE BY ONE By Thomas Jordan

BORUC Spectator Relatively quiet night for the shot-stopper, but anything he had to deal with he did with a minimum of fuss.

HINKEL Willing Never slow to push forward and get involved in the game, which is one of his biggest assets. Only fault was he gave the ball away too often. CALDWELL Impressive Has become a serious contender for the Player of the Year award and didn't do his chances any harm with an impressive overall display rounded off with a goal.

McMANUS Solid Almost joined his defensive partner on the scoresheet as his header came crashing back off the crossbar - untroubled by the Falkirk attack.

O'DEA Improving Deserves great credit for the way he has acquitted himself recently on the left of the defence and once again popped up with another goal during stoppage time.

NAKAMURA Quality Take the Japanese playmaker out the side and you lose a man capable of creating countless opportunities for his team-mates. Oozes class.

BROWN Banned Silly booking will now see him sit out the first two games after the split through suspension but performed well in the middle of the park.

CROSAS Composed Is growing on the Celtic fans with every passing game and he finally looks to have found his feet in the SPL. Always looks for a forward pass.

McGEADY Outstanding Without doubt the most entertaining player in the country. Is at the heart of just about every Celtic attack and scored a fabulous effort from outside the box to round off a fantastic display.

McDONALD Hard-working Has not managed to find the back of the net for a few games now but he had a chance to net against Falkirk. However, he is always lively enough.

SAMARAS Crocked An innocuous injury forced him to limp off after just 13 minutes to be replaced by striker partner big Jan.

VENNEGOOR Important Scored his second goal in as many games to prove he is deadly from a couple of yards out. But he made a big contribution last night.

McCOURT Anonymous Brought on to replace Nakamura but didn't see any of the ball.

MIZUNO Cameo role Given a few minutes as a late replacement for McGeady.

STRACHAN Thrilled Can have no complaints with a victory that displayed all the signs that his side can now go on and retain their championship.

But it is one he believes the champions are equipped to survive.

Brown triggered the ban after his caution in the 4-0 romp against Falkirk last night pushed him through the disciplinary threshold.

Having also reached the 18-point mark last season, the punishment is a two-game suspension which comes into force from April 22.

But, disappointed though Strachan is that Brown finally fell off the disciplinary tightrope he has been walking since picking up his fifth SPL caution against Motherwell on February 22, the manager points to the fact the combative 23-year-old served an even longer ban last season - and Celtic still went on to clinch the SPL title.

Strachan said: "For what Scott has to do on the football field, to only have six league bookings by April is absolutely incredible.

"It is a pity he has now got this suspension. But what we can look at is that last year we played without him at this point.

"He then couldn't get back into the side. Mind you, if he had been playing then as well as he has played this season, then there was no way we could have left him out because he has possibly been the best player in Scotland.

"But we have people ready to come in and play their part in our midfield.

"Look at Willo Flood and Paul Hartley. They have not even been able to get on the subs bench for the last few games, but we know how much they can offer to our side."

Nevertheless, having one of the main cogs in the Green Machine removed threatens to disrupt the smooth running of a side which has just produced back-to-back 4-0 wins.

The dismantling of Falkirk followed hard on the heels of an equally-impressive demolition job on Hamilton.

The bonus was seeing Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink coming off the bench to score in both games, thus confirming the goal drought he has suffered since September is now well and truly behind him.

Like his close-range effort at the weekend, last night's bundled knee knock over the line was not a contender for any goal-of-the-season competition.

But its significance cannot be overstated in terms of restoring the big Dutchman's confidence - if not credibility - especially at a time when his frontline services are going to be required.

The thigh muscle injury suffered by Georgios Samaras after just 11 minutes of the game against Falkirk will keep the Greek striker out of Saturday's tough test against Hearts, and poss-ibly the final game before the split, against Aberdeen the following weekend.

The good news is that, after a sticky few weeks, Celtic are no longer relying solely on their frontmen grabbing the goals.

And with Gary Caldwell, Aiden McGeady and Darren O'Dea all joining Vennegoor on the scoresheet last night, stifling the goal threat is proving difficult for any side which stands in Celtic's way.

It did take more than an hour for the champions to add to the first-half lead Caldwell had given them. But, in the interim period, they had seen efforts from Vennegoor and Stephen McManus cannon back off the Bairns' bar and numerous others slip just wide or over.

So it brought tangible relief when the floodgates finally opened and the points were made safe while the goal difference was given a timely boost.

Strachan admitted it was a match which, beforehand, had caused him some concern, and one he was relieved to see produce such a positive outcome.

"I was worried about the game because it was in our 31st fixture last season that we lost at home to Motherwell to fall behind in the title race," he explained.

"So to get this one out of the way, and to play so well, was a real bonus. We had a lot of good performances. Aiden was special and Jan was absolutely terrific. He was a threat."

Strachan continued: "I don't think anyone was assuming it was a guaranteed three points for us. The results teams have got against the Old Firm this season means no-one is thinking that way.

"We were certainly treating the opposition with respect, as you could see by the fact I put out my strongest available side, as I did when we played Hamilton last weekend.

"We know we need to win every time we play. To get a performance at the same time is really pleasing, and the boys should take a lot of credit for that."

Now all eyes are on the challenge awaiting them at Tyne-castle on Saturday when the opportunity to go six points clear of Rangers will be accepted by a Celtic side who have come back from the break for World Cup ties re-energised and refocused - nowhere more so than in front of goal. NEED TO KNOW

Was it a good game? When top meets bottom, there is always a gulf which makes a close contest unlikely. Such was the case in this match, Celtic having too much in every department for the Bairns. John Hughes did try to put out a more attack-minded side than succumbed to Rangers at the weekend, but this left them open to Celtic's raids and the goals duly arrived from Caldwell, Vennegoor, McGeady and O'Dea.

Who was Celtic's top performer? McGeady picked up where he left off at the weekend and was a constant threat. His inventive play, clever runs and shooting placed him head and shoulders above his team-mates, although the majority of them were on their game.

And Falkirk's best player? Darren Barr used his speed and positional sense to thwart many Celtic attacks.

What about the ref? Willie Collum let the game run away from him for a short period in the second half before he got a grip on it again. He booked Brown, McBride and Finnigan for fouls, but could have added at least another couple of names to his crime sheet.

Who's up next? Celtic travel to Tynecastle to face Hearts at lunchtime on Saturday.