The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Gordon dates Hoops’ quest to January
Craig Gordon has revealed Celtic first began believing their blemish-free treble triumph was possible as far back as January.
The rampant Hoops completed the clean sweep with their William Hill Scottish Cup win on Saturday.
The 2-1 victory over Aberdeen saw Brendan Rodgers’ ‘Invincibles’ chalk up a remarkable 47th domestic game without defeat this campaign.
The Parkhead club became the first Scottish side to pass an entire top-flight season without loss since Rangers won all 18 of their old First Division fixtures back in 1898-99.
And now goalkeeper Gordon has told how he and the rest of his team-mates realised they were on the brink of something special as they flew out to their winter training camp in Dubai.
He said: “I remember when we got to the halfway point and went out to our training camp in Dubai that everyone was thinking, ‘This is on, we can do this’.
“We came back from there and stepped it up a level from where we were in the first part of the season. We kept improving as we went along.”
He added: “It’s an absolutely incredible achievement. I’m a bit older than the rest and I know that it’s probably not going to get done again, not for a very long time anyway.
“We have to enjoy it for what it is. It was an amazing season and I don’t think we could have asked for much more.”
No team has even completed back-toback Scottish trebles but Gordon reckons that feat is next on his side’s to-do list.
The Hoops were given their toughest examination of the campaign by the Dons at Hampden.
But they responded immediately to Jonny Hayes’ early opener with Stuart Armstrong’s leveller before Tom Rogic made history with his stoppage-time winner.
Gordon said: “We went behind but had to show what we were made of. We’ve not had to do that too often but when we have had to, everyone stays calm as we know what we have to do to get back into the game.”