This has been a sluggish start to life at Celtic for the Hoops’ new manager Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian knew things weren’t going to be easy at Parkhead. After all, the size of the rebuild required in Glasgow is colossal.
On the chalkboard
Despite the pure amount of work that needs to be done in order for Celtic to regain their status quo of being Scottish champions, this has been a very poor start to the campaign.
In fact, it’s the worst start to a season that the Bhoys have had in the last 23 years.
Performances are only getting worse and the swashbuckling, exciting attacking football that Postecoglou engrained in the early weeks of the campaign has disappeared.
He is struggling with an injury to Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor’s absence in the middle of the park has also been huge.
One of the biggest reasons for the club’s downfall in recent weeks has been the balance of the midfield.
David Turnbull’s performances have been questionable with just one goal in his last nine outings since a hat-trick against St Mirren.
Ismaila Soro and James McCarthy have also been poor this term but Tom Rogic isn’t delivering either.
The Australian looked like a player reborn after Postecoglou’s arrival on the scene, being described as "majestic" by the cast of ACSOM. Sadly, his displays have been abject in the last few weeks.
He’s contributed just a solitary goal in his last 11 matches and is struggling next to Turnbull in the middle of the park.
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Their pairing simply hasn’t worked but after the Hoops sold Ryan Christie and got rid of Olivier Ntcham this summer, they are lacking options in a central area.
Rogic seems to be getting worse and that was typified by a laboured showing against Dundee United last weekend.
Celtic drew 1-1 and the Aussie midfielder failed to provide them with much penetration or impetus.
He did produce four key passes for his teammates but ultimately, it was a troubled day at the office where he was too slow in possession and surrendered the ball on a regular basis.
During the course of the stalemate, the £16k-per-week earner lost the ball on 21 occasions. That happened to be the second-worst tally of any Celtic player on the pitch.
When the Hoops take on Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League on Thursday, Postecoglou will need a far more reliable midfield pairing.
He cannot afford to play Turnbull and Rogic in the same team against the Bundesliga side; it sounds like a recipe for disaster.
The former is still capable of producing magical moments so it’s the latter that should be axed instead.