Put it this way, the only show on Thursday night at Parkhead came from the disco lights – and that’s saying something.

Even the club’s media accounts are in on the joke now that undoubtedly makes almost every section of the Celtic support cringe. Well, how couldn’t they? The Lightshow setup certainly wasn’t installed to dazzle the gapping crowd prior to a tie against Raith Rovers.

The green, white and purple lights were the lone – albeit, unique – flashes of brilliance that blinded the fans.

Unenthusiastic, passive or, as I prefer to word it, the match was meh. There were no glaring errors – which makes a pleasant change compared to recent run-out’s – but there lacked any real finesse, interest, or dynamism against a mid-table Championship side.

Maybe this is too critical an evaluation. Perhaps Celtic never really had to leave second gear. Perhaps Celtic were content in keeping the score-line at three. But surely, unequivocally, the Hoops fans and, of course, the disco lights extravaganza, deserved more.

James McCarthy produced, undeniably, his best performance in the green and white, showcasing some of the skills he has been brought in for. The delicious through ball into Jota’s feet for the Portuguese’s maiden goal for the club and the team’s first for the night will rightly ring in the plaudits.

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It’s been a pretty bleak week. Made even bleaker by Ange Postecoglou’s post-match comments last night, where he confirmed that Giorgos Giakoumakis picked up a suspected calf injury in the pre-match warm-up and was due to have a scan, while Mikey Johnston is set for a further spell on the sidelines after an injury in training.

This news also broke whilst I was knee-deep in a column ranting about the whereabouts of the Greek striker. It was going along the lines of, 'is he the next Marvin Compper? Fear of that comparison can be shelved, for now at least. And again, it shifts back to the state of Postecoglou’s squad.

With hindsight, we can all rejoice that Albian Ajeti departed the field rather early. Thankfully unscathed, because now more than ever, the Swiss striker needs protected at all costs. But look at those substitutions.

Home tie. Championship opposition. 10 men. What little creative players who were on the park, their replacements were far from it.

The aforementioned Ajeti and McCarthy in addition to Liel Abada and Tom Rogic were swapped for Nir Bitton, Josip Juranovic, Liam Scales and Ismaila Soro – far from pretty on the eye.

As expected, the switches killed any zip the game had, but even more so, left near enough every fan pondering the formation. One minute Scales was left-back, the next, veering towards David Turnbull-esque territory. It ended messily.

Job done, semi-final with holders St Johnstone lined up and all that, but it didn’t fascinate much.

The depleted squad depletes deeper upon the visits of Dundee United and Bayer Leverkusen to Glasgow in the next week. Captain Callum McGregor only has an ‘outside chance’ of making the Europa League tie against the German outfit.

Here’s hoping captain Calmac can be lead home by the disco lights sooner rather than later and his troop of injured men will gradually follow.