I DON'T think Tuesday night’s defeat to Lincoln Red Imps was the worst result in Celtic’s history – unless it still stands this time next week.

Brendan Rodgers was right in what he said in some respects that Celtic dominated the game and had plenty of chances – but he was wrong to say it was not an embarrassment.

Trust me, if you were a Celtic fan going to your work yesterday to take a pounding off of your colleagues for the result then you know exactly how embarrassing it was.

There is no getting away from that. However, what you can say is that while it was a shocker of a result, I would hesitate to label it as one of the worst ever purely because Celtic can still extradite themselves from it.

They can recover their composure and they can get through the tie. But even so, this is a result that ultimately may well be forgiven – if they get through and get themselves into the group stages – but it won’t be forgotten.

I can understand Rodgers wanting to defend the players and speak up for his team, but ultimately it was a result that no-one would have seen coming. Yes, results like this can happen in football but the bottom line is that at Celtic it should never be allowed to happen.

Celtic should not lose under any circumstances to a part-time football team. That it can fixed offers some salvation and in some ways this may well provide the jolt that could be required.

Let’s be honest, too: had this been Ronny Deila who had overseen this result, there would have been a queue of people waiting to shoot him in Glasgow. Sometimes the players have to accept some culpability for the performances and the results – it is up to them now to show that this was a blip and they are capable of getting to the group stages of the Champions League.

I have said all along this summer that I think getting into that environment is imperative but on Tuesday’s evidence there is still work to be done in that regard.

I have often said that I didn’t think major surgery was required on this Celtic team but what a result like this can do is perhaps speed up some of the transfer negotiations that have been going on.

There would have been a feeling that this first round of the qualifying process for Celtic should have been straightforward enough which may have tempered any rush for bodies, but I would say now, with every round getting harder and harder that Celtic need to start pressing on that immediately.

The sooner players are in, the better.

Or out, if that is the case.

I have not been alone in saying that I didn’t think Efe Ambrose should play for Celtic again – and I said it way before a ball was kicked in Gibraltar. There are only so many times that you can be in the middle of the mistake that leads to a goal before there is a realisation that it is not working.

I have nothing against Efe on a personal level and I am sure he is a thoroughly decent bloke – but he isn’t good enough to play in Celtic’s defence, as we have been reminded of time and time again.

He shouldn’t play again and that brings me to another case in point; Charlie Mulgrew. I am not privy to what the lad has been offered in terms of a new deal and just how far away that is from what he himself wanted, but I struggle to believe that the gap is so big that it cannot be bridged.

It would have seemed straightforward enough, particularly with the injury issues that are ongoing in the heart of defence at the minute, that signing Charlie as back up would have been an obvious one, purely for the reason that he can play a variety of different roles and he has the experience to help you through a time like this.

Certainly, though, the performance will have opened Rodgers’ eyes to one or two players.

I am long enough in the tooth to see the way that football can have a funny way of turning, and turning quickly. If Celtic turn up next Wednesday they should send Lincoln back to Gibraltar on the back of a comprehensive defeat but Tuesday’s is a result that knocked a good bit of the feelgood factor off of Rodgers.

The main point, now, though, is that it has to be seen purely as a shock result but one which was quickly rectified.

It is up to the players now to get the team back out of the hole and get them on a solid footing to make it into the Champions League.