THIS IS JUST THE START
Happy Rodgers hails his title winners then vows to stay and take the club to even greater heights
BRENDAN RODGERS last night made it crystal clear he’s staying at Celtic for the long haul. And the title-winning manager is also adamant the championship triumph is just the beginning for him as the best is yet to come in his Parkhead reign. Rodgers insisted there was nowhere else he’d rather have won his first-ever
BRENDAN RODGERS’S side were 5-0 up and ready to secure a sixth straight title.
Celtic were winning the flag without losing a game in 30 topflight outings as the fans to the manager’s right celebrated.
Then Rodgers turned around after a misplaced pass and sank the boot into his dugout.
If ever an act said more than a million words, it was that.
Rodgers has demanded perfection from the second he walked through the front door at Celtic Park and that is never going to change – not even when his side were five goals up and he was five minutes from winning his first title.
The Celtic manager admitted as much. Leaping around and jumping on his staff wasn’t an option. Not when there were little issues to be ironed out.
Rodgers savoured the triumph. Of course he did. But afterwards, inside Tynecastle, he admitted the obsession for everything to be spot-on drives him to keep striving for more.
He said: “If you are expecting me to be sliding on my knees, I’ve got to dry-clean this suit! I’m not one for that.
“I am happy, of course, I am very proud. But at 5-0 I was kicking the dugout. I’ve just an in-built thing in my mind to achieve perfection.
“I know that can’t happen in football but I’m really happy. I’ve always tried to keep my emotions intact. I never get too carried away when we win and it helps me never get too disappointed when we lose.
“I am absolutely delighted for the players and everyone connected with the club.
“I said before the game no matter what the result or whether we did it or not, I was really proud of their professionalism, integrity, pride and style of football the team has played. That was what we wanted to create.
“I also said this would be a great place to show the development of the team because our first game was played here, in the sunshine, on a nice pitch and together.
“And could we now go out and show the progress we have made as a team and wrap it up in that way.
“It’s a huge privilege for me. I went very close a couple of years ago with my Liverpool team.
“There was disappointment in that when it didn’t happen. But I couldn’t think of a better football club to win my first league title with than the club I’ve supported all of my life and dreamed to do it for the people that are close to me and all of the supporters.
“To do it here is fantastic and it’s two trophies now. We know what else we want to achieve before the end of the season and we are going to fight like hell to do it.”
Celtic have been sensational from the day they started out in their campaign with just a couple of draws against Inverness and Rangers denying them 90 points out of 90 with eight games to go. It has been a staggering run of success and one that has made it easy for critics to sneer.
Rodgers takes exception to any notion it has been simple for Celtic and said: “For anyone thinking it was easy, you only have to look at Aberdeen on Friday night and how well they played.
“They have a really good team, an excellent manager and they go away and get a victory at a hard place to go. It has been the level of our consistency. It’s the way the players work on a daily basis and they’ve had the courage to take on board elements of the game I wanted to see.
“They have an ability to play out different systems and have shown how comfortable they are working how I have asked them to work.
“So it wasn’t easy. The numbers may tell you that but it’s not our way of thinking. Every game is tough but it’s how you make it look.”
Which was the key quote. Celtic have made it look easy because they have been stunning at times
We know what else we want to achieve and will fight like hell to do it BRENDAN RODGERS
this season and, when they haven’t been at their best, have also been able to dig out results.
Within the set-up, key men have shone. Signings such as Scott Sinclair, who bagged a hat-trick on flag-winning day, and Moussa Dembele have excelled. But the improvement in players such as Stuart Armstrong and Dedryck Boyata has been equally impressive.
That’s what drives Rodgers. The trophies provide the gloss but it’s the difference he makes to players that excites him most.
He celebrated with a cup of tea last night and said: “I’m not trying to downplay it. I’ve always said titles and everything are great but I look at the influence. That’s my achievement, personal. The one I have emotionally.
“So when I see Armstrong play like he did, that’s my big achievement. When I see Kieran Tierney play and when I see Sinclair play, that’s great for me. When I see Scotty Brown develop these are my big achievements.
“That’s what my goals were when I set out to coach. So for the players to do that, in the style they did and to show every element you would want in a football team, that makes me really happy.
“I’m more pleased for others. I am really happy with the board, firstly. They put their trust in me to come here and strategically we got together with a one-club one-vision mentality.
“They put the trust of ownership on me to lead it and they’ve allowed me to work.
“I am absolutely delighted for the players and I am over the moon for the supporters. I am very lucky because I am one of them but I’m on the sidelines.
“From the first day I walked into the club, they have given me nothing but 150 per cent support. I’m just happy I can win it in the style I like.
“When I came in I said very clearly the club was on a winning cycle and I wanted to keep doing that in the best possible way we could. And we have shown that over the course of the season.
“It would be very harsh to say there was a better way to do it because how we’ve played and how we’ve worked has been amazing.
“We still have work to do but we will celebrate this success and get ready for Wednesday. I have to be thinking of my preparation for that game and the semi-final of the cup.
“We have three league games before that. We have ticked off another target, so that’s two. We hopefully have two more games in the Scottish Cup. But there is a lot of work to do before that.”