The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Double treble may never be repeated, says Tierney
Young left-back believes club must now focus on making progress in Europe
Kieran Tierney admitted Celtic’s historic double treble may never be repeated after they clinched the William Hill Scottish Cup on Saturday.
The 2-0 triumph over Motherwell at Hampden marked a sixth trophy in two seasons under Brendan Rodgers, with the Parkhead club scooping up every domestic trophy available in that time.
The achievement was an unprecedented one in Scottish football and left-back Tierney – who has been an integral part of the run under Rodgers – admitted it may never be done again.
“I’m not sure because it’s very hard to win six cups domestically in a row,” he said.
“It’s never been done before and that’s because it’s very hard to keep the consistency over two years and we have managed to do that, so we have to enjoy that now.”
He added: “There was a lot of talk about it (the double treble) and there should be because it’s never been done and it’s so hard.
“The expectation has always been there at Celtic and this season and last we have dealt with it great.”
After conquering the domestic front in Scotland, Rodgers must now focus his attention on the European game to take this group of payers to the next level.
There was success of sorts this season as they qualified to finish third in a Champions League group including Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain, but after dropping into the Europa League they were immediately knocked out in the last 32 by Zenit St Petersburg.
A run in the knockout stages could be crucial to holding on to the likes of Tierney and Moussa Dembele in the future, and the 20-year-old Scot knows how important that could be.
He said: “Progress in Europe is massive for the club, I think Celtic belong in the Champions League.
“We have eight games to get in (through qualifying) there which is tough at the start of the season, so it’s something to look forward to.”
Meanwhile, striker Leigh Griffiths believes Celtic’s rivals will be making an even bigger effort to stop the history-making Hoops next season.
Griffiths feels more will be demanded of Brendan Rodgers’ all-conquering side after the summer even though Celtic’s rivals will have strengthened, with Rangers leading the way with the recent recruitment of Allan McGregor and Scott Arfield and with Jamie Murphy signing a permanent deal from Brighton after a loan spell at Ibrox.
The Scotland striker said: “There will be bigger expectations on ourselves, yes. We want to go into every competition wanting to win it. It is not as easy as everyone makes out.
“Teams make it difficult for us, you’ve seen that this season in the league campaign that it’s not easy any more.
“Next season teams will be trying even harder to stop us, in the cup competitions especially.
“Yes, you seen the business Rangers have done on the other side of the city, Hibs will be stronger again, Aberdeen and Hearts will be strong, Kilmarnock finished the season well.
“We have a lot of tough competitors next season and we look forward to it.
“We will add numbers, we need to look forward to pre-season, who is going to come in, who is going to go out and we kick on.”