They have already been playing competitively for a month, and the injury list is testimony to how bruising a schedule it has been.
However, the first major staging post will be reached on Wednesday when they play the second leg of their Champions League play-off.
Avoiding a disastrous capitulation to allow Helsingborgs to cancel out the two-goal advantage Neil Lennon's side earned in Sweden last week will book their place in Europe's elite competition until at least mid-December.
A collective sigh of relief will be heard all around the club as part one of the to-do list for the season will have been achieved.
Then the madness of the final couple of days of the transfer window will descend, with the £15million which the club will bank for reaching the group stage used as a stick to beat them by people demanding serious investment in the squad takes place.
To date, Lennon's only purchase has been Fraser Forster, who could yet turn out to the best £2m he spends.
As important a part of the job as identifying signings clearly is, recognising what you already have and making the most of it is another key aspect.
Which is why the sight of Filip Twardzik and Tony Watt stepping from the club's nursery to bloom in the first team gives Lennon so much satisfaction.
They showed with their major contribution to the 4-2 win against Inverness Caley Thistle that, if Lennon wants to rest some of his big guns for the important European games, or if, as at the weekend, injury demands he leaves them out, there is an underbelly of talent on which he can call.
It has made a very difficult balancing act in the opening weeks of the season a little bit easier for Lennon.
And he is relieved that, apart from a couple of points dropped at Dingwall, the chopping and changing of his line-up has not upset their rhythm or momentum.
"It is something we have tried to balance over the past few weeks, having different teams for the different competitions, and we have come through it okay," is his assessment as he takes a quick pause for breath before throwing himself into the task of securing safe passage against Helsingborgs on Wednesday.
Lennon continued: "The squad is taking good shape and, considering the hectic schedule we've had, they've performed very well. There were players champing at the bit to play on Saturday in Inverness, and they were playing for a place.
"I was more than delighted with the performance, from start to finish – apart from conceding the two late goals.
"But I can sort of understand that with the changes we made in the second half."
With Wednesday very much in mind, and the points safely tucked away against an unimpressive Caley Thistle side – unrecognisable from the one which traditionally gives Celtic such a hard time in the Highlands – Lennon elected to remove the risk of injury to Adam Matthews, Emilio Izaguirre and Gary Hooper. On in their places came James Forrest, to sharpen him up for midweek, Mo Bangura to try to finally get him off the mark in the scoring charts, and Joe Chalmers, another of the bright young kids Lennon wants to reward for their progress in the youth team.
The two goals scored by Ross Draper in the closing minutes were the result of sloppiness among the re-arranged back line, and severely disappointed Forster, who wants to keep a clean sheet every time.
However, in the grand scheme of things, the late lapse of concentration meant nothing, thanks to the goals from Wanyama, Charlie Mulgrew and the well-taken double by Watt which were already banked.
If some minds had already advanced to Wednesday, it would have been wholly understandable. The SPL title race has a long way to run. The Champions League is within sniffing distance.
To ensure Celtic are in Thursday's draw, Scott Brown, Georgios Samaras, Kris Commons and Thomas Rogne will be back in place, though Joe Ledley and Beram Kayal will still be missing through groin and ankle injuries respectively, along with fellow-absentee Anthony Stokes. Lennon would have liked a full complement of players from which to pick, but he knows that is a luxury seldom afforded any manager.
He had Helsingborgs watched again at the weekend and will have noted that his counterpart, Age Hareide, also chose to leave out several players in preparation for Wednesday's game at Parkhead.
However, unlike the Hoops, the Swedish champions could not avoid another morale- damaging defeat – their third in a week – when they went down 2-1 to Djurgarden.
Every big gun they can muster will be lined up against Celtic as the Swedes know that scoring the first goal at Parkhead is essential if they are to have any chance of unsettling the home side.
Lennon will choose his team accordingly, even though he made all the right diplomatic noises about the performance of some of the players who were given their opportunity to shine at Inverness.
He said of the emphatic display: "It gives me a lot of food for thought. Watt had a sensational game, and Twardzik was excellent, too.
"Tony has very good assets. He's full of running and was a real handful. Filip we've known about for quite a while."
At the other end of the experience spectrum, Kelvin Wilson was another who looked more assured than he has been for some time.
Given that it is essential not to lose rather than win in midweek, the Englishman might just be ahead of the aforementioned youngsters in terms of forcing his way into Lennon's thinking.
Regardless of who starts against the Swedes, they face the club's most important 90 minutes of the season.
When they are over, remaining at the top of the SPL table will once again become the priority, and the seven points already gathered during this difficult and distracting period will be used as the foundation on from which to launch their title defence.
TIMES TALKER: Should Watt start against the Swedes?
TAKE A CHANCE says MATTHEW LINDSAY
IF Neil Lennon learned anything from Celtic's win over Helsingborgs in Sweden last week it was that adopting a cautious approach was counter-productive.
The Scottish champions were overrun by their opponents in the Olympia Stadium when they played with a 4-5-1 formation with Gary Hooper as a lone striker.
Yes, they went in at half-time 1-0 ahead, but they had Fraser Forster in goals to thank for that. They were fortunate not to be behind. Celtic were transformed in the second half when James Forrest replaced Beram Kayal and ran out deserved 2-0 victors.
Lennon should go on the offensive in the second leg on Wednesday night in order to book a place in the group stages of the competition. Playing Tony Watt up front alongside Hooper would be a tactical masterstroke.
Yes, Watt is only 18 and has played just five times for the first team. But his youthful exuberance, his physicality, his eye for a goal and his pace will cause the visitors no end of problems.
If you are good enough you are old enough. Watt is undoubtedly good enough and his manager should gamble on him in order to land a £15million windfall for his club.
TOO RISKY says RONNIE CULLY
AS impressive as the 18-year-old was in his two-goal performance at Inverness, this £15million play-off tie is no place for one so inexperienced.
Neil Lennon has to go with his tried and tested. And, with a two-goal advantage from the first leg, he could be tempted to start with Gary Hooper or even Georgios Samaras up alone, and Kris Commons supporting just behind.
Helsingborgs have already shown how their quick passing and movement can cause problems, and Celtic can't commit too many forward, especially in the early stages of the game when the Swedes will be desperate to grab a goal to open up the tie once again.
Watt's pace and power will be a useful back-up from the bench if things are not going to plan.
