Celtic might as well forget about making any progress this season - it was never on the table.
The Bhoys are back in crisis mode after a defeat to Falkirk that made it six defeats for the season across all competitions. Celtic have only lost twice in the league, and they have only failed to win three times in the competition, leaving them top of the table.
Martin O'Neill's men are top of the table with a four-point lead, but Rangers now have a game in hand. In Europe, it has been a sorry showing from Celtic, who have lost three on the bounce to start their Europa League campaign, leaving them effectively needing to beat Besiktas on Thursday to stand a chance of progressing.
The Bhoys are out of the Premier Sports Cup, while their Socttish Cup campaign has not begun.
Celtic were only ever planning for maintenence
With every game Celtic fail to win, we see pundit comments about the club going backwards or sideways, then we see an analysis of O'Neill's role in that.
It's getting old to some degree. At this point, we should know the score. The Celtic board had already decided during the summer that the goal would be maintenance, and they doubled down on it after the team failed to qualify for the Champions League.
There were glaring needs going into the summer that were not addressed, and it was clear the board did not want to address them until they knew whether the team would be competing in the Champions League.
Once they were eliminated, it was clearly decided that another title win and a possible league and cup double would be enough.
If losing to LASK, a team with a third of the squad value compared to Celtic, didn't spring the club into a stronger recruitment drive, then it is obvious that the board had no interest in setting up a strong Europa League run. They knew the team could not compete at its current level.
And so we know progress was off the table, that it was never the plan for this season, which is unfortunate. That lack of ambition should be questioned repeatedly until it is addressed, make no mistake.
But while there are clear issues with O'Neill and his coaching staff that have surfaced this season, we need to stop pretending that the veteran boss is somehow standing in the way of progress.
With the standard of this team, progress is off the table, for O'Neill or any other manager. The goal is nothing more than maintenance, and that means another league title, which Celtic may well still achieve.
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