SEVENTH HEAVEN?
Aberdeen bid to stop Brendan Rodgers’ side from equalling Walter Smith’s seven-in-a-row at Hampden
BRENDAN RODGERS has challenged his Celtic stars to carve their names in the history books by making it a magnificent seven at Hampden.
The Parkhead gaffer is determined to maintain his flawless trophy record against Aberdeen in tomorrow’s Betfred Cup showdown – and match Walter Smith’s glory streak with Rangers. The Ibrox manager won seven trophies in a row
in the early 90s while Rodgers has already racked up six out of six since coming to Scotland.
The Celtic boss is hooked on stockpiling silverware and said: “It’s very hard for me to look at it in that context. Walter was a brilliant manager up here and hugely successful.
“I suppose I have always just tried to look to the next experience as opposed to from a personal perspective. Of course you have something tangible to show for your work.
“What we have created in the two-and-a-half years so far has been special.
“For me, it’s another great opportunity to experience that winning feeling again.
“When I first came into the club I said our objective was to win and to do it in the best way we can. We’ve always tried to do that. “Personally, it has all gone pretty quickly. Two years ago we won the League Cup Final against Aberdeen which was the club’s 100th trophy and it was great to show it to the fans back at Celtic Park that evening.
“Now, very quickly, we are going for the 106th. We have worked well over these last couple of years but you have to keep looking forward.
“Thankfully the hunger in our players is still strong. We want to keep the feeling going.”
Rodgers insisted his men are heading to Hampden on a high after moving top of the Premiership then blasting to within a point of the Europa League last 32 following Thursday’s cool 1-0 win against Rosenborg in Trondheim.
The Hoops squad remained in Norway to do their recovery work before returning to Scotland yesterday afternoon.
Rodgers insisted his side will be fresh – and hungry to win the Cup in style.
He said: “We all recognise that, for as long as we all are here, we want to win as much as we can and not just winning but playing in a manner Celtic is synonymous with.
“My teams always play in a really attacking, aggressive way so I don’t think we need to magnify the occasion any more than it already has been.
“It’s a cup final and we want to win it.
“The players are hungry to do that.
“Our concentration is always on the performance and there will also be some ways we can hook the players emotionally to help them focus but the main thing is how we play.”
Rodgers has swept the board in Scotland but had advice for English snipers who claim it’s a breeze for him in this country.
He said: “Try it! Before I arrived Celtic had won five titles in a row but my feeling was just to try to do it the best way we could.
“I wanted to make sure the stadium was full, could we develop the club on and off field? That collective effort has been great.
“But we want to continue along that way. People in the game know it’s not easy.
“It doesn’t matter if you have the biggest budget or not. The consistency to keep winning, the players have shown incredible appetite to do that.”
Rodgers admitted he has a cup final headache with several stars back to full fitness and fighting for starting slots.
He said: “It’s great when you have the guys coming back into contention – Scott Brown, obviously, and Olivier Ntcham playing at Hamilton.
“That’s what you want and we need that freshness with so many games.”