Going into the play-off tie against VfB Stuttgart, Celtic fans would have been hoping for Martin O'Neill to work his magic once again. Unfortunately, there are even limits to what the Northern Irishman can achieve with this team. And the Hoops met that ceiling in the Europa League this week.

Celtic were handed a 4-1 defeat at home by the German side, who currently sit at fourth in the Bundesliga and were always the favourites coming into the matchup.

Even more worrying might be the fact that this did not feel like an European night under the lights at Celtic Park. It was flat for the most part, with the travelling fans making the most of the noise, which will raise further questions about the board.

Even Chris Sutton called it out after the game, while also pointing a finger towards Kasper Schmeichel, describing him as a liability. The former Celtic striker wrote on X:

"As flat an atmosphere on a European night as I can remember. Sad to see. The result no surprise. This is a bang average Celtic team outclassed by an ok Stuttgart team. Schmeichel has been a top class keeper but he’s becoming a liability and he’s not the only one…"

Schmeichel has been completely out of form for months now. Unfortunately, that was not enough to convince the club to go out and sign a goalkeeper in the winter transfer window. It looks like Celtic are going to stick with him as their number one, no matter how many mistakes the Danish legend ends up making between now and the end of the season.

After a 4-1 defeat at home, this tie is as good as over going into the second leg. O'Neill had been able to outclass VfB Stuttgart a couple of years back. But there is very little chance of those heroics being repeated this time around. If there was to be any hope, they needed to win at home, which the Hoops did not.

In the long run, it raises far bigger questions about where Celtic stand as a club. Right now, it feels like a lot of the joy of supporting the Hoops has been taken away, largely due to how things have been run.

Fans have constantly complained about a lack of ambition and efficiency, but that has not resulted in any significant change to how the operations are run at Celtic Park. And there is little indication that they plan to make any changes in the future either.

All we can do right now is turn our focus to what lies ahead. For Celtic, that is a Premiership game against Hibernian. It is safe to say that the league fixture was always going to be the priority for the Hoops, as they look to fight their way back to the top of the table.

That rings even truer after what happened against VfB Stuttgart at Parkhead. The result means that the second leg feels like a dead rubber already.

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