NOW that the dust has settled there is a real sense of impending doom ahead of a very important few days for Celtic and in particularly the management team which have deservedly come under serious scrutiny after Sunday's embarrassment at Ibrox.

I'll be honest, if someone told me Celtic would head to Ibrox with no fans in their corner in a cup clash less than two weeks on from the collapse in Austria and get battered without as much as whimper, I wouldn't have been totally shocked.

You see when you employ a scouting team and days before your biggest job they are tasked with replacing your best midfielder – and yes I do mean Arne Engels – with the footballing equivalent of a unicorn (or as Celtic like to call it 'free transfers') then I feel you have got to have very limited knowledge in the sport and minimal insight into what happens when you shred a car for parts and expect it to be at its peak.

Alas, this result, never mind the performance, was predictable with Celtic's recent trips to Ibrox often seeing the Hoops leave with their tail firmly stuck between their legs and racing back towards the East End of Glasgow.

But ahead of Sunday, I was quietly confident that having watched some of the 'Gers escapades as they got pumped out of Europe that surely Celtic would have a chance.

The ticket debacle did concern me, it's something that is very predictable when the away support is locked out that it rarely ends in anything other than a home win.

Celtic have in fact only won once when no away fans where in the building, it so happens to be the last inside 90 minutes at Ibrox, when Kyogo Furuhashi struck the only goal in a 1-0 victory in Brendan Rodgers' return derby back in 2023.

Since then, 3-0 to Rangers is actually the most frequent scoreline in this fixture, with the blue side of Glasgow running up three results of the same scoreline at their home patch and often it comes when the midfielders in blue bully the Hoops.

Right now it stings, but I think it was always on the cards when you take into consideration the lack of defensive midfielder presence on the park.

Martin O'Neill's last three visits to Ibrox has seen him make substitutions at the break, clearly signalling how he had got it wrong from the get-go, and to be honest it is a very worrying theme that the management team often have to look to the bench for a hero in these games.

Starting Tounekti and Sam Johnstone were the signs that Celtic were not going to have a good day.

It was wince inducing watching the former Wolves number one genuinely play out from the back like someone who had been introduced to the sport 20 minutes before kick-off, and Tounekti might go down as the most forgettable winger in Celtic history, and that's not hyperbole, the guy is rotten and plays with the heart of a mouse and the talent of a teaspoon on the wing.

The absence of Yang was clear for all to see, a guy who has stood tall in these fixtures in recent years but has left for a hiatus to compete in the U21 Asian Games for South Korea, and his replacement was a figure who would struggle to get a game for Andytown Celtic let alone Glasgow.

The captain yet again failed to inspire, the clips of him telling the squad to apparently 'keep it tight' after a third goal hit the net is nothing short of embarrassing, and for a guy who used to be feared in these games he has become benign to the outcome for almost three seasons now.

The forward mis-match was awful, and I genuinely think Kasper Hogh will eventually thrive if – big IF – he is played correctly.

You don't buy a barbecue and use it as a kitchen table, so why buy a striker who is potent in the box, and use him as a hold-up player? He will never be a John Hartson, so stop asking him to play that way.

I'm off to the match on Thursday against Ferencváros. Over the next two games a few players' careers are on the line, and big performances and some fight are needed to show that Sunday and Lask were just blips along the road.

Get back on the horse, get two wins, and head into the international break with the cup defeat firmly in the back of the mind and look to kick on as the season ramps up a gear.