There are clearly a number of ways in which to reflect upon Celtic’s quite discombobulating back-from-the-dead victory over Besiktas in the Europa League on Thursday evening.

Martin O’Neill regarded it as a triumph of heart and spirit and soul that conjured up recollections of ‘the olden days’, when the likes of Juventus, Porto and Olympique Lyon turned up at Parkhead during his first stint in charge and were sent packing with their tails between their legs.

Benjamin Nygren viewed it as a well-earned win notable for the side fighting from start to finish. Callum Osmand, meanwhile, opted to paint it as some kind of masterclass in digging in, staying strong and getting your rewards.

Of course, there are some of us sober-minded sorts who opted not to travel through the looking-glass and saw it for what it was. A disgrace, really. A night in which O’Neill appeared to buy into the overriding view of his paymasters that Europe doesn’t really matter all that much – only to get away with an unfathomable team selection by chucking on a load of subs over the last half-an-hour and hoping for the best.

It was a night, for anyone watching the game remotely objectively, that simply added fuel to the theory that the Northern Irishman is a man out of time and no longer suitable as manager.

He made comments afterwards about the team playing some lovely stuff. Gee-whizz. The first hour – before he summoned Camilo Duran, Osmand and Colby Donovan from the substitutes bench – was absolutely mortifying for Celtic as a club.

It was like the olden days all right. The days when Wayne Biggins was running around up front and punters were throwing Mars bars into the directors’ box.

It’s just fortunate that Besiktas fell into such a false sense of security that they set about turning it into a game of ‘passy’, an exercise in keep-ball, and forgot about what those big white sticks at either end of the park are for.

For long periods, Celtic struggled to get the ball off them. When they did gain possession, they didn’t have the faintest idea what to do with it.

Early in the second period, with the visitors a goal up, a text came through from a foreign contact with an extensive history in the game who was questioning the wisdom of tuning in. ‘Really embarrassing’ was how he described it.

It was all that. And the madness and mayhem of the last 28 minutes or so shouldn’t be used to disguise it.

Celtic supporters paid good money for those Europa League packages and tickets. They need a better explanation than the one O’Neill gave in the aftermath for why they turned up for a make-or-break fixture and ended up watching the stiffs. They should claim a refund for the first 60 minutes.

The 3-2 victory, earned against all odds and much logic, showed precisely what was at stake. Celtic, thanks to Duran’s 87th-minute winner, are just a point off the top 24, which guarantees a spot in the play-offs. They’re also just four points off eighth and the automatic entry into the last 16 that brings.

There was absolutely everything to play for on Thursday. And that begs the painfully obvious question of why O’Neill picked the team he picked.

He says it was all intentional. That fresh legs were needed in the side. That the plan was always to utilise the substitutes the way he did. And the band played believe it if you like.

All the Dilly Daydreams buying into this stuff about it being a night for the ages and some sort of example of everything good about Celtic need to give their heads a wobble. This simply reeked of giving a home league game against Kilmarnock on Sunday priority over a big night under the lights.

The Parkhead side are in the state they are in because they have let their standards slip to a ridiculous degree. They have meekly accepted becoming a laughing stock in Europe, a punchbag for the LASKs and the Maribors and the Kairat Almatys.

Given O’Neill’s insistence that UEFA competition should be a major focus, it is crazy that he went into a game of this magnitude with Jordan Lotomba making his first start at right-back, 35-year-old James Forrest reappearing on the right flank for just his second start of the season and Sebastian Tounekti, a bloke that even the dogs in the street know is not cut out for this, on the left.

Lotomba had a mare, giving away the stupid penalty that led to Besiktas’ opener with a stupid tackle. Forrest did produce the team’s first shot on target on 50 minutes but was almost as ineffective as Tounekti. When all three departed the scene on 61 minutes, it wasn’t a moment too soon.

Surely the lightly raced Osmand, terrific after coming on, should have kept his place on the left. On the other side of the pitch, it’s hard to figure what is going on with £9million man Haissem Hassan. If he can’t get in the starting line-up ahead of the ageing Forrest, there’s a problem.

Right now, he’s starting to look a monumental waste of money that O’Neill doesn’t fancy. Indeed, the £20million or so committed to him and Kasper Hogh is starting to look like the most reckless example of silly spending since Edinburgh decided it needed to bring back the tram system.

Hogh should never have started. Duran should have been playing through the centre all day long and hammered that home when moving there after the Dane had been taken off and scoring twice.

Big Kasper is just a jigsaw piece in the wrong box here. A pineapple Danish in a bag of cinnamon swirls. Someone, somewhere will get some enjoyment from him through time, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be Celtic.

That’s 15 games without a goal now. People can talk all they like about how O’Neill is not playing to his strengths, but an £11million international player needs to be able to adapt better than this. He was honking on Thursday. Again.

He just looks bereft of confidence, but wouldn’t it have been better to shove him in at home against Killie at the weekend in the hope he can get back on the goal trail rather than pitch him into a big European game and watch him slide ever further into the mire?

Lord knows. With every passing week, the mess the transfer window ended up being comes into sharper focus. Sam Johnstone doesn’t convince in goal and certainly didn’t convince against Besiktas.

It’s hard to know who should play between him and Viljami Sinisalo. Maybe both. A bit like Rab Douglas and Magnus Hedman all over again.

Still, it was good to see Landon Emenalo, Shim Mheuka and £3million Joel van den Berg get an outing in the KDM Evolution Trophy in Dingwall on Tuesday – and end up on the wrong end of a 2-0 hosing from League One Ross County, who had 22 shots on goal and rattled the woodwork more than once.

Yes, there are many things that can be said about the last couple of days at the champions. And lots of things that an admittedly thrilling win against solid opposition can paper over.

One thing remains as clear as it was before Besiktas came to town, though. Under this board and this manager, Celtic are a confusing outfit going nowhere other than backwards.