Let-up never came
Anything but defeat at Hearts today will see Celtic lift their sixth title on the spin and their first under Brendan Rodgers – back at the spot where they set a juggernaut of a campaign rolling.
And the Northern Irishman admits the marker they put down from day one, beating the rest of the top five in succession in their opening four games, put the rest of the league on warning.
One by one they picked them off – Hearts, St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Rangers – scoring 15 goals in the process.
Rodgers – brought in after a Ronny Deila era which was good without ever being good enough – admitted: “In the early games you can’t win the title but you can lose it. We put down a marker.
“When the fixtures came out, everyone thought it would be a tough start, a stiff test in a formative phase.
“And we weren’t at our fluid best but showed all the signs mentally. It was immense focus from the players who have never once slipped off their concentration, never had a lazy day.
“That showed in December – we showed so much determination. There were nine tough games, Champions League games.
“We won eight and drew one.”
Rodgers knows the true yardstick of a manager’s worth is his team’s league form.
And he can’t praise the response of his squad enough. He said: “This is a real special group we have fostered here. There are no big-time Charlies. The true mark of success is consistency over the course of the season.”