As Celtic chase yet another domestic Treble under Brendan Rodgers, the manager has reflected on the remarkable shift in expectations at the club since he first walked through the doors in 2016.
If Celtic are to win the Scottish Cup in just over a week’s time, that would be Rodgers’ third as a Celtic manager, and the club’s sixth in nine years – an absolutely insane statistic. In fact, some Celtics fans may even feel like there should have been an extra one in there after the Hoops were disappointingly put out of the League Cup in the early stages of last season.
The results of that shift were immediate. Rodgers guided Celtic to an unbeaten domestic season and a clean sweep in 2016/17, laying the foundations for others to follow.
Speaking ahead of this month’s Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen, Rodgers was asked whether fans and media now take the achievement of winning all three major trophies in a season for granted.
“I think it is taken for granted. I think that, as I said, I go back to 2016. When I came in here, Jock and Martin were the two managers that had done that. The teams that had bought since 1888 had done it three times. And you think of, in that period of time, the number of managers and brilliant managers and brilliant players.
“So, for that to happen only three times, it shows you how difficult it is. I think what we tried to do when I came in in 2016 was set a mindset and a professionalism and a passion to add to the quality of the players that if you are going to win and you want to win, then you have to change your standard every day. That was about winning, then that standard allows us to win in the very best possible way.
“When I came in here, Celtic were already winning. They had won titles, and Ronnie had done great the previous few years. My job, I felt, when I came in, was to get the team to try and win in the very best way we possibly could and upgrade everything around what we do on and off the pitch. So that creates a mentality. And then from that and that first treble, we gain another treble. Then the confidence goes from there. Then the culture is in place, and then Neil Lennon comes in and does a fantastic job, and he wins a treble. Ange Postecoglou comes in and wins a treble. So they keep driving it.
“Now we have the possibility to do it again. There is so much work in it. It’s not just something you can take for granted because even luck can go against you in games, and you can get sendings off, and you can do all sorts. But thankfully, we’ve managed to be really consistent with it.” [Celtic TV]
Celtic now stand 90 minutes away from another Treble, a feat which was once almost unimaginable in Scottish football but has now become part of the modern Celtic standard. Rodgers, though, was keen to remind everyone that behind the success is a relentless drive for excellence and an unwavering mentality forged over years of hard work.
