I WANT THE TITLE NOW
CELTIC fans are addicted to winning but they might just let their heroes off the hook if they don’t do it against Hibs at Easter Road tomorrow.
A fair whack of the Parkhead faithful are in mischievous mood these days and while a Premiership title party at Easter Road sounds like fun, the chance to clinch it next week when crisis-ridden Rangers are in Glasgow’s East End is an irresistible prospect.
The Scottish Cup slaughter of their old foes has punters licking their lips for another chance to sink their teeth in to the Ibrox club – and there’s even the bonus of allowing former boss Neil Lennon to eat into Rangers’ lead in the race for second.
Hoops fans can’t lose – even if they do lose. Not for Brendan Rodgers though.
It was put to the Parkhead boss that moving back the party a week might be a popular choice and he said: “I am a Celtic fan but I don’t want to wait. I want to win it on Saturday.
“If we can do it, great. It will be a BY MICHAEL GANNON tough game for us, probably the most difficult place we could go to win the title but if it doesn’t happen it is OK.
“We go to the next game and if not the next game. The most important thing is to win and we want to do it as soon as we can.”
Rodgers wants to wrap up the loose ends of the Premiership race and he’s a content man after tying Rangers in knots last Sunday.
Gers were not just hammered on the pitch, they completely unravelled off it on the back of the 4-0 defeat. Fighting on the pitch, barneys in the dressing room, a caretaker manager undermined and a board under siege.
It’s mayhem over the road while Rodgers happily has sauntered along on his merry way.
He said: “Listen, that is the game, isn’t it? If you lose a semi-final it’s tough. The focus is to win the semi-final and hopefully win the trophy. If you lose and lose to one of your great rivals it’s difficult. Everyone knows what the fallout from these type of games can be.
“But we coped with it. You can enjoy it but you always have to retain your humility, look at it and see what you could have done better. Then the show goes on and you make sure you’re ready for the next game.”
Rodgers always looks forward but he will enjoy looking back to Hampden. He’s unbeaten in all 10 of his Old Firm experiences and while he stuffed Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha in 5-1 wins, it was Sunday’s victory that might have been the most satisfying.
Celtic have been accused of sleepwalking at times this term but they sparked back to life in such style that the afternoon will be the stuff of nightmares to Rangers players, coaches and supporters.
Rodgers said: “There have been other games with greater scorelines but under the professional pressure of the game and everything that was on it, what pleased me really was the performance.
“After playing at Hampden seven times and winning there seven times, you see the calmness and the edge players are playing with – but also the control.
“They took real charge of the game from the very first minute. When you take charge of the ball then you can control and take charge of the game.
“That intent, real ferocious intent, in our defending and our pressing. It was something we talked about before the game with Rangers.
“To stop the long ball you have to counter-press the game hard so there were very few opportunities for that for Rangers.
“So tactically I was really pleased with the players in the semi-final.
“To play under that pressure with that calmness, again it was another problem that the