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Celtic's procession to a fourth successive Scottish Premiership title may only have been delayed, but it was clear that Brendan Rodgers' assessment of defeat at St Johnstone as "bitterly disappointing" was about more than just the result.
A win against a team adrift at the bottom of the division would have set up the chance of clinching the trophy at home to Kilmarnock on Saturday lunchtime.
That scenario is now null and void, although a Celtic win followed by a Rangers loss at Aberdeen the following day would still add up to a title win.
Defeat in Perth was Celtic's fourth in an otherwise impressive league campaign, but all four have come since January and featured the concession of an early goal - something highlighted by Rodgers.
"It's happened too many times," he said. "I've seen a trend now with us, and it will be interesting between now and the end of the season in terms of mentality.
"We didn't start the game how we wanted. The first-half mentality and attitude is disappointing. It's about your mindset, and that is something that concerns me."
Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner, on Sportsound punditry duty, suggested it would be a "real, real disappointment for the fans" but what went wrong?
Rodgers gradually withdrew his starting front three of Nicolas Kuhn, Daizen Maeda and Jota in Perth and also replaced £11m signing Arne Engels at McDiarmid Park.
But their replacements could not make the difference either.
"The first half was poor," said Bonner. "There was really no penetration. Did we see Maeda running in behind today? No.
"Kuhn was right off it. That's a bit of a worry for me. Jota did a bit but not enough.
"They did create enough chances in that second half at least to get a draw but they weren't able to put the ball in the back of the net."
The relative dip in Celtic's results in the second half of the season, having dropped just four points from August through December, is arguably down to their own consistency.
When they were beaten for the first time domestically this season at Rangers on 2 January, the gap between the sides was reduced to 11 points.
It was hardly the re-igniting of a title race because there has never really been a title race this season.
And Rodgers commented: "We talked about being a top team and having talent but also having drive, desire and ambition to win and having spirit, and too many of our players have been too comfortable.
"It's around comfort; comfortable is not a physical place and if you get comfortable, you don't do the things physically needed."
Whether Celtic are crowned champions next weekend or later in the campaign, the "trend" Rodgers pointed to is something he will be eager to eradicate as his side bid for a domestic treble.
Sunday's conquerors St Johnstone await the Scottish Cup holders in their 20 April semi-final, with Aberdeen and Hearts contesting the other semi the day before.
And former Premiership midfielder and Sportsound pundit Stephen McGinn asked: "How do you criticise a team that are only a couple of games away from winning the league?
"They're going for a domestic treble but that's three defeats in their last seven.
"There's a warning to those Celtic players that there's a semi-final in a couple of weeks against the same team and they're going to come with the same attitude, organisation.
"They aren't absolutely free flowing at the business end of the season so I think Rodgers will just have a reminder to them there's a lot of work to do."
