Martin O'Neill knows his Celtic side is a long way from where it needs to be after their Champions League reality check. The Bhoys will now play Europa League football after giving up a four-goal lead, with the result likely to go down as one of the most crushing in recent history.
It was a failure on all fronts, from the players to O'Neill, from O'Neill to the club board, who failed to provide the necessary resources. The autopsy is ongoing, and it will be a tough one to dust off.
But Celtic must address the issues in their squad ahead of the September 3 deadline, especially if they want to compete well in the Europa League, and O'Neill knows there is plenty of work to do.
“The game comes pretty early for us in that sense," he said after the game. "I’ve known this from the past, way back years ago, when we tried to qualify. Teams that you think you might be able to beat will cause you a problem.
“I think the Austrian side are a fine team. They’ve got pace, they’ve got a bit of strength, they’ve got a bit of power about them. But in all honesty, we should have seen it through.”
Asked about the state and quality of his squad, he added: "What these games show you is that we have a lot of work to do in that aspect. You can cover over cracks at certain stages, but overall these games are real tests. And unfortunately we failed that test.
“We know that we are a million miles from the finished article. That’s absolutely true. I think we thought that anyway, regardless.”
Asked about whether failure to qualify for the Champions League will be an issue in signing more players, O'Neill said: "I said last week that if you could qualify for the Champions League, there would be players that would want to come on that very basis. That’s not going to be the case, but we’ll see.”
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