Celtic wrap up the title in style
Rodgers delight at derby romp
BRENDAN RODGERS watched Celtic humiliate Rangers to win another Premiership title, then insisted his side should have scored seven or eight.
A 5-0 thrashing marked Celtic’s biggest league win over their bitter rivals in their 130-year history, with Rangers interim boss graeme Murty and his players so battle-scarred they failed to face the media afterwards.
Five goals up after 53 minutes, Rodgers’ side flirted with eclipsing a 7-1 win in the League Cup final of 1957. Denied by a series of fine saves from Rangers goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, the Celtic boss satisfied himself with two goals
from on-loan striker Odsonne Edouard, a first goal against Rangers for James Forrest and second-half strikes for Tom Rogic and Callum McGregor.
Admitting he had no idea how close his side were to a record win over Rangers in all competitions, Rodgers said: ‘I wasn’t aware of that. We should have had seven but we’ll take five. ‘The performance was outstanding. This title is definitely better than last time, even though we went unbeaten last year.
‘To come in again this season with very little break and perform like we’ve done, playing a number of games under pressure, we’ve done that very, very well.’
Celtic last secured the title against Rangers at home in 1979 when they came from behind to win with ten men. Despite police unease over the circumstances of yesterday’s fixture, events in the stadium passed peacefully.
Rodgers added: ‘We said to the players beforehand, we obviously know the consequence of the game and all the historical facts around it, Celtic to win it here against Rangers for the first time in 39 years, but I said to them you’ve got to play football.
‘Our basic rules were very simple. It was to attack with real aggression and intensity, try and recover the ball as quick as we can when we lose it and, when we can’t do that, make sure you are tight and compact and look to dominate as much of the ball as you can.
‘I couldn’t have asked any more of the players, they were absolutely brilliant. I’m really proud.
‘For us, and our fans, it was a special day to wrap up the title. We had a performance last year at Hearts to win the league and I was really pleased with how the players coped with that pressure and expectancy.
‘To then stay as calm as they did, but play with that intent in the game, was really pleasing.’
As Rangers players blanked the media before their annual Player of the Year dinner in Glasgow last night, Celtic’s squad flew to Tenerife immediately after the game for a week of rest and warm-weather training.
With a chance to win a double Treble by beating Motherwell in next month’s Scottish Cup final, Rodgers insisted there will be a brief let-up before a return to work.
‘It’s very important that if you want to sustain (success) you have to have that hunger and intensity,’ said the Celtic boss.
‘We’re about running hard, fast and aggressive and — when we do that — we give ourselves a chance to create lots of opportunities. Like today, we scored five and it was probably going on seven or eight. Their keeper made some great saves.’
Meanwhile, Edouard revealed he has set his heart on becoming Celtic’s record signing after his two goals helped them secure a seventh straight title.
Edouard has scored 11 times in 28 appearances since signing on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain in August.
Rodgers is keen to make the striker’s move permanent, and says Celtic have ‘a very, very good chance’ of doing a deal likely to break the club’s £6million record fee.
The young Frenchman took time out from yesterday’s title celebrations to declare: ‘I love this club, I really love this club. If the decision was up to me I’d like to stay.
‘But I can only do so much. What’s most important is we’ve won the title. The season’s not over yet because we still have the Scottish Cup final. Hopefully, after that, there will be time for discussing options.
‘This has been my best ever day in football. I’m going to remember this all my life because it’s my first title.’
Rodgers insisted he would be pursuing the France Under-19 international during the close season.
‘He wants to be here. It will be a case of hopefully getting an agreement with PSG. We will finish the season and then see where we are with that.
‘He’s a brilliant player. Some questioned his ability when he first came here but this is a player who was brought in for a reason.
‘He is 20, he has everything — and I mean everything.’
Celtic followed up their title triumph by claiming a double at last night’s PFA Scotland awards.
Skipper Scott Brown was named Player of the Year by his peers after leading Rodgers’ champions to a seventh crown in succession.
Left-back Kieran Tierney landed Young Player of the Year for a third successive season, the first time that has happened in the 40year history of the awards.
Neither player was at the gala dinner in Glasgow after the Celtic squad flew to Tenerife for a training camp after yesterday’s game.
St Mirren’s Jack Ross won the Manager of the Year, while Saints winger Lewis Morgan, who will join Celtic this summer, won the Championship Player of the Year prize.