CELTIC manager Martin O'Neill has said his side's tame 3-0 defeat to Rangers in the League Cup must serve as a wake-up call.
There were no Celtic fans at Ibrox for Sunday's quarter-final tie but for long periods it looked like the Celtic players had failed to turn up as well, such was Rangers' dominance.
The Hoops may sit atop the Scottish Premiership but following the nightmare Champions League exit to LASK, Celtic once again find themselves unceremoniously dumped out of a cup at the first hurdle.
"Everybody has to look at themselves at the end," O'Neill told Celtic TV.
"Myself, then I obviously have to look at the team, how we played, how we didn't play in many aspects.
"Hopefully it's a wake-up call to us. Only time will tell."
Celtic washed away by blue tide
Given their league form, Celtic would have fancied their chances heading into this tie, particularly with Rangers still finding their feet under manager Derek McInnes.
Having endured a double European exit, the Gers picked up only one point from their first two league games and won the following four by the odd goal.
However, fans of both clubs know to expect the unexpected on derby day and having quietly gathered momentum, Rangers tore up the script for those who had Celtic as favourites.
The hosts were on the front foot from the off with Celtic failing to heed a number of early scares as goalkeeper Sam Johnstone endured a torrid derby debut.
First, the Wolves loanee's slack pass went straight to Kevin Kelsy on the edge of the box on four minutes but the Venezuelan sent his effort wide.
Ten minutes later, Johnstone flapped at a cross with the ball falling nicely for Kim Min-su, who saw his effort diverted wide by the outstretched leg of Liam Scales with the keeper stranded.
The one-way traffic finally told after 22 minutes when Celtic were cut open by a flowing team move that ended with Kelsy teeing up Dan Neil to score from the edge of the box.
Celtic's only response was a tame Camilo Duran effort that was straight at Ivor Pandur, which was ultimately their only effort on target all afternoon.
Min-su stung Johnstone's hands just after the break as the relentless Rangers pressure continued before the keeper gathered Naderi's header from the subsequent corner.
However, the hosts got their second just before the hour mark as James Penrice's cross into the box was headed on by Neil for Kelsy to swoop in unmarked at the back post and drill home.
Minutes later, Rangers had the ball in the net again only for Emmanuel Fernandez's effort to be ruled out for offside.
Celtic's response at that stage was to bring on James Forrest and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for joint top scorers Benjamin Nygren and Kasper Hogh, the latter Celtic's record signing.
Forrest has — and continues to be — a fantastic servant for the club while Oxlade-Chamberlain won a Premier League title with Liverpool and the pair clearly still have something to offer.
However, the introduction of two players with a combined age of 68 when chasing a game at 2-0 down suggests that despite the summer outlay on Hogh, Duran, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur, Celtic still lack significant strength in depth.
Forrest, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Hassan — who came on at half-time for the ineffective Sebastian Tounekti — at least had a go rather than waiting for the Rangers tide to wash over them.
The Egyptian got a shot away after 71 minutes but it failed to breed confidence in his teammates and Rangers ultimately killed the game off shortly after.
Penrice's cross into the box was headed away by Scales but only as far as the unmarked Neil on the edge of the box, who had time and space to sweep the ball into the top corner.
'We need to be at it'
Celtic will have the chance to quickly make amends as they welcome Rangers in the league next Sunday.
Before then, they host Ferencvaros in their opening Europa League fixture on Thursday, meaning Rangers have a week to prepare for the derby clash.
A victorious start to their Europa League campaign could send Celtic into the Rangers game with renewed confidence after this morale-sapping loss.
It would be a timely fillip as there were certainly no positives to pick from the bones of this limp defeat.
O'Neill himself conceded his side were well-beaten and made costly errors, adding that they 'need to learn something from this game'.
"Domestically it's been good for us so far but I just thought we were second best," he told Celtic TV.
"I thought that they looked physically stronger than us on the day and we need to do something about it.
"It's a combination of a number of things. The first thing I have to do is look at my own performance for a start before I start talking about the team."
He added: "The European fixtures… they are difficult games physically that take an awful lot out of you.
"But if we're trying to win a league, then we need to be absolutely and utterly at it next Sunday."
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