‘THIS TREBLE WOULD BE BETTER’

BRENDAN RODGERS says winning the Treble this season would eclipse his unbeaten clean sweep with Celtic a year ago. He became just the third figure in Celtic’s history to preside over the winning of the league, Scottish Cup and League Cup in the same term — but the first to do so without a defeat. Having lost to Hearts and Kilmarnock since August, Rodgers accepts his side have not hit the heights reached in his first season. But he maintains the heightened expectations placed on his players since last summer would make the achievement of winning all three trophies second time around even more laudable than their Invincibles campaign. ‘It was always going to be difficult to recreate what we did last year,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘On the back of the recovery the players had, which was minimum, it was probably impossible to recreate that. ‘But if someone would have said to me at the beginning of the season that you are sat here having reached the Champions League, got to the last 32 of the Europa League, won a League Cup, and be ten points clear with a game in hand and in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, I’d have snapped your hand off. ‘If it was to be done this year, it would be better.’ Meanwhile, Rodgers is adamant Scott Sinclair is content at Celtic Park despite being linked with Bournemouth and Brighton. ‘Scott is very happy,’ he said. ‘He hasn’t played in the last few games because we changed the tactical ideas. He is a competitive player and turns it on in the big games. He is still very important to what we do.’ Rodgers poured cold water on speculation linking Manchester United with Kieran Tierney, saying: ‘There will always be that when you have young players or senior players developing and playing well.’