TALKING CELTIC

“My team have proven it through the level of performance produced in some real big games – in finals and semifinals and other league games where questions were asked.”

Having taking some satisfaction from becoming only the third man to deliver a Treble to Celtic, Rodgers is nevertheless determined to eke out another level entirely at the club.

His own ambitions centre on making an impact in European football, the coveted environment where the respect and kudos that is absent from any domestic achievements will be afforded to his side.

“I know they can do it. The structure and the dynamic of the team is there now. It’s about building on it in the next years.”

MEANWHILE, the last time Brendan Rodgers was at Windsor Park it was as a nervous teen, twitching at the thought of pulling on the colours of his country against the reputable swagger of Brazil.

Playing for the Northern Ireland schoolboys in 1988 against the inimitable South Americans is the last memory Rodgers has of setting foot in his country’s national stadium.

He will return there this evening having earned the right to his own jaunty step. Rodgers goes back to his homeland after writing his own chapter into the Celtic script and on the first step of a journey that ultimately he anticipates will lead back into the riches of the Champions League group stages, although he can be assured of a particular welcome as he returns to home soil.

“The last time I was there was when I was 14,” said the 44-year-old Celtic manager. “Northern Ireland schoolboys versus Brazil, and I haven’t