The horror of Celtic's failure to get through the Champions League Playoff round lies behind us now, though the frustration of the supporters will live on for a while yet. In many ways, while the loss on penalties has a significant impact, not a lot changes, which in itself might be part of the real problem at Parkhead right now.
Celtic have been in this position before. Failure at the play-off stage or qualifying for the Champions League is huge financially and in status terms, too. Sadly, those failures over the years have a common factor, which is a lack of timely investment in the squad to deliver the level of players needed to get through.
Tuesday night saw a weakened Celtic squad take to the pitch. While injury took a toll on Alistair Johnston, that wasn't the real issue. It was the fact that top players like Kyogo and Nicolas Kuhn had left and not been effectively replaced. Those departures were not last-minute changes, but the club failed to make the signings needed over several months.
As a result, when Kairat Almaty won on penalties, it was heartbreaking. But it was not completely surprising, as it would have once been. That's the real disappointment.
Will much change at Celtic due to this result?
It looks as though a couple of new signings may be imminent, but it’s still too little, and definitely too late. A left-back and a winger will help, but it leaves huge gaps up front. Especially while Adam Idah struggles to make any sort of impact, whether as a starter or off the bench. Maybe Shin Yamada will come good, but he feels like an impact sub at best rather than the Scottish champions' main goalscorer.
More signings continue to be a priority as we speed toward the final days of this window. In fact, the word 'priority' understates the situation, absolute necessity is much more appropriate. Beyond that, though, other than a need to examine why the signing process has failed again, perhaps not a lot changes.
In day-to-day terms, next up is the Glasgow Derby. Brendan Rodgers needs to get whoever he has together and prepare them for a tough visit to Ibrox. Rangers are in no great shape, especially after their 6-0 defeat at the hands of Club Brugge, but these ties can easily go either way, particularly if Celtic underperform. Sadly, that's another recent trait the Hoops have shown in these games.
The board will have to revisit spending plans in light of Europa League participation money being so much lower than that of the Champions League. But then again, sadly, this is not an unfamiliar situation for them.
Rodgers has already committed himself to the club for the rest of the season. That could be an issue if he is not going to continue in the role beyond then.
There is a despairing hope that the club will learn from the poor transfer window, though history suggests we may be feeling the same next summer too, then the one after that and so on. Change is needed but nobody seems eager or willing to make it. For now, it’s on with the season. Let’s see who we get paired with in the Europa League draw and deal with that Ibrox visit in the short term.