Matt O'Riley and Reo Hatate gave emphatic tasters of what they can provide.
Unfortunately, Yosuke Ideguchi didn’t really get the chance.
But these three January arrivals have got huge boots to fill in the immediate future of Celtic.
And I’d be pretty surprised if Ange Postecoglou doesn’t dip into the midfield market again this summer to further offset the losses of Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton.
The bare facts tell you what a huge void has been left by the Aussie and the Israeli.
Combined service of over 18 years and a total of 34 winners medals. There’s entire squads around at the moment who almost don’t have those numbers, never mind just two players.
Rogic and Bitton got the send-offs they deserved seven days ago on that final Premiership afternoon against Motherwell.
Postecoglou’s transfer business at the beginning of the year would suggest he’d a fair idea the pair of them were departing even if the rest of us didn’t. Either that or you can add seeing around the corners to the list of the Aussie’s talents.
Of course, he’ll know as well as anyone that there’s no point in trying to replace Rogic. You don't replace a player like that. Just as Callum McGregor couldn’t replace Scott Brown.
The old captain was a one-off. McGregor is not the same type and had to do it his way. He’s done it magnificently.
In the same manner, O’Riley won’t be another Rogic, but he’s already shown he’s got talents operating in that advanced area of the engine room.
The Danish Under-21 international has delightful touch, he can pick a pass and he can finish. He’s also got a dead-ball delivery that Rogic didn’t have, which is one upgrade on the Aussie.
O’Riley may also have a bigger engine than the footballing Rolls Royce that was Rogic, so there’s hope there that he can do it.
When it comes to replacing Bitton, it is, of course, worth noting that he was not a first pick. Not a regular starter. It’s an easier shift.
Looking at Ideguchi’s CV, he looks the one who is being earmarked to fulfil that task. The Japanese has not as yet had an opportunity to show anyone what he is made of at Parkhead.
He was just settling into the squad when suffering a bad injury on that rough night in Alloa and that made him a spectator for virtually the rest of the campaign, apart from a couple of short outings from the subs bench.
With a rest and a full pre-season under his belt, we’ll get a better idea soon enough.
In some ways, you can say the same for Hatate. The kid looked dynamite in his opening few matches, but shaded badly.
That’s forgivable. He’s a young lad in a new country for the first time and had also started his season 17 months ago in the J-League.
The boy said he was seeing double at one stage during a game against Rangers due to fatigue, so we’ll get a true sense of his value when he’s had his summer holidays.
One thing you can see is that he’s got touch, he’s got vision and his goals against Hearts and Rangers showed his shooting prowess.
If he can match a vibrant energy and box-to-box running with those talents, Postecoglou has got a future star on his hands, as, to be fair, he’s said that he will be.
Given the fact the manager hasn’t got much wrong so far in his reign, the Celtic fans can be confident that Hatate will shine going forward.
Given these factors, it might be a crossroads moment for David Turnbull.
The Scotland international played a huge part in the first-half of last term when the likes of O’Riley and Hatate were at other clubs. He carried a burden and delivered.
Turnbull paid the price for a heavy schedule when suffering injury in the Premier Sports Cup Final and that allowed O’Riley and Hatate to jump above him in the pecking order when he was working his way through his rehabilitation.
Turnbull scored against Motherwell last weekend to offer a reminder of what he can do and, of course, Postecoglou needs a big squad to cope with the demands of another full fixture lost including Champions League next season.
McGregor starts. Full stop. Every game, if he is fit. That leaves two midfield places up for grabs in the manager’s current system and, to my eye, they are owned at this minute by O’Riley and Hatate and that is even before the market opens.
I have little doubt that Postecoglou will go into this window with another midfielder on his radar. In fact, I’m almost sure of it.
Incidentally, I’ve not forgotten James McCarthy. He was about the only Postecoglou signing who didn’t really shine last season and he faces a fight to get involved.
Now he didn’t get a pre-season and had some niggles afterwards, so, maybe, with a summer of training in the group under his belt, he can still play a part in the future.
If he gets to full speed, he’s got the CV to cover Bitton’s departure as back-up holding midfielder. But that’s a big if.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how Postecoglou goes about tweaking and improving over the next few weeks.
Seeing how he deals with the midfield area intrigues me as much as any.
