It would be safe to say that Celtic's game against the Rangers did not go according to expectations or hopes. The Hoops did not only lose but they lost badly.

Derek McInnes' side won 3-0 at Ibrox. That ended Celtic's hopes of winning a treble and their perfect start to the season when it comes to domestic competitions.

Of course, one cannot overlook the 5-1 defeat at the hands of LASK in the Champions League play-off second leg. And now, with this result on top of that, there are serious question marks over this Celtic team and how their season will play out from here on forward.

It is quite evident that the club did not do enough in the summer transfer window. And it might be a good time to start laying the groundwork in preparation to fill those needs immediately when the winter window opens.

According to CeltsAreHere, Celtic are already working towards strengthening their midfield in January. High on the club's wishlist is a ball-winning midfielder.

At times, it looked like that the Rangers were simply the stronger team when they met at Ibrox.

And this is not a new thing. For quite some time now, Celtic have struggled to win the midfield battle against the Rangers. A solution needs to be found.

Of course, a ball-winning midfielder has been needed for quite some time now. But the Hoops have not been able to bring one in so far. It remains to be seen if that scenario changes.

One would hope so. Celtic can continue without filling obvious gaps in the squad for only so long. This is one such need that has not been filled, and it is continuing to hurt the club as a result.

Obviously, we should not make it sound like Celtic's midfield is the only problem with the team and just bringing in a ball-winning midfielder will magically solve all of their issues overnight.

That is not the case at all. These struggles are a result of constant weakening of the squad year after year.

And while that was enough to win the league title, it does feel like things are catching up with Celtic and their lack of proper squad planning.

Hopefully, these will be rectified in the future. Starting by signing a ball-winning midfielder is a good way of doing that.