We had our first taste of competitive action on Tuesday against FC Midtjylland and even with a patchwork team, what we saw was night and day from the substandard and limp performances we became accustomed to under Neil Lennon.

We played some quick, unpredictable and penetrative football, with both coherence and intent; a rarity last season.

I felt the same frustration as everyone else that we weren’t more ruthless when our chances came along, but I feel more encouraged than despondent. Ange’s fingerprints on our style of play are already clear to see, and we’re now heading in a vastly different direction.

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While that new direction is a positive one, we’ve got a long way to go until we’re back to where we need to be.

I said last week that Ange Postecoglou needs patience, but he also needs substantial additions to his squad, and quickly.

With the manager doing his job, we need the board to do theirs and bring in the players he needs. I don’t speak for the entire Celtic support, but I can confidently say that we expect and demand that the club move decisively to strengthen our weakest areas, ideally starting with a capable goalkeeper and at least two full-backs. The defence is a serious cause for concern, even more so in the wake of Kris Ajer’s departure to Brentford.

While it may have only been a pre-season friendly, losing so heavily to West Ham United isn’t acceptable in any circumstance, and bolstering the manager’s options is the only remedy to what is now a glaring issue.

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The introduction of Carl Starfelt to the Starting XI will be a very welcome one, as will Kyogo Furuhashi - and I applaud Dom McKay for getting those deals done in good time - but his pre-season work is nowhere near finished. Like most fans, I expected Dom to have a red-hot start to his tenure, but it’s been predominantly lukewarm, thus far. Yesterday’s viewing will have given him a sharp reminder that there’s still work to be done.

The club have money to spend and affordable options aplenty. 

I’d personally like to see us move for Hibs duo Kevin Nisbet and Josh Doig before we miss the boat on two very good young players. Again.

They’d fit well into Ange’s system, and they’ve proven their quality.

The board knows that participation in European competition is vital for the continued progression and sustainability at Celtic, so the apparent indecisiveness and lack of serious intent is puzzling. The sooner the manager gets to work with the players he wants to bring in, the sooner we get back to winning ways.

On the playing side, we’re capable of going over to Denmark for the second-leg against Midtjylland and getting the result we require to progress to the next round, so long as Christie, McGregor et al do their job and put us ahead far enough that we have some room for likely defensive mishaps.

Those big players have an added weight of expectation on their shoulders to put us far ahead enough that the frailties in our defence aren’t as costly as they could turn out to be.

Jock Stein said: “the best place to defend is the opposition penalty box”.

Here’s hoping.