CELTIC TRIUMPH
Captain savours adding his name to exclusive treble-winning list, writes Neil Cameron
CUP FINAL WIN SEALS UNBEATEN TREBLE REPORTS, ANALYSIS AND REACTION
SCOTT Brown, still in full kit, put down a half-drunk bottle of beer as he began his media duties. It would not be his last drink of the night.
Aside from playing in a major international tournament, Celtic’s captain has now done it all. The treble was the only thing missing, he said so himself, and he now follows in the footsteps of Billy McNeill and Tom Boyd.
Not only that, but his team didn’t lose a single match across the 47 domestic games.
Yesterday’s 2-1 William Hill Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen was oh-so Celtic. This is a club with a history littered with such drama. They didn’t let their supporters down at Hampden.
“It’s the best feeling I have ever had,” said Brown who was almost bouncing as he spoke. “From start to finish we knew the game was going to be hard. “Aberdeen did come at us and they did really well but luckily for us we had that quality in Tom Rogic right at the end.
“It showed our fitness. They had a lot of pace on the counterattack and in Jonny Hayes they have a phenomenal player who is so quick. We were a little worried about that.
“What I would say is the lads in that dressing room are a very close bunch. It doesn’t matter if they are Scottish or from elsewhere, we all stick together and that showed in the celebration.”
So was there ever any doubt in Brown’s mind that the Scottish Cup would be added to the title and League Cup? “As soon as they scored!” he said. “It was a great finish by Jonny. It was something they clearly had worked on in training. He managed to finish when the rest of them ran to the front post to create space for him.
“We then went straight up the park and score. Stuart Armstrong has been great for us all season for us. He has scored and created chances and has driven us on from midfield. It was a great finish for him.
“The fact it went down to the last minutes today sums us up. But when you go back to that first game in Gibraltar [in Champions League qualifying], I don’t think anyone would have expected this.
“For us to go all the way through the season undefeated and to win three trophies – that’s phenomenal.”
Brown being Brown, he couldn’t resist going to the Aberdeen supporters at the end and he also aimed a tiny wee dig at Ryan Jack, his direct opponent yesterday. “Yeah, I’m looking forward to him going to Rangers. I hope he goes,” he said. Still smiling.
Aberdeen’s captain to Graeme Shinnie did little wrong in the match and yet failed to get his hands on the cup.
“I’ve enjoyed a last-minute goal here and I know how that feels,” he said. “Now I know the opposite of that and it’s not a great feeling.
“The game was even, we maybe sank a wee bit towards the end, but that’s natural given how much the boys put in it. “But I think up until maybe the 70th minute we were in the game and we had a couple of chances to go ahead in the second half – chances that you probably need to take in a game like this. “We said after the league game when they went 3-0 up after 10 minutes that we had them rattled. Even though we were three down, we a the goal back and had them rattled so we knew we could do it. The boys did that very well but when scoring opportunities come round you have to take them. We didn’t and got punished in the end by the late goal.” Shinnie and Mikael Lustig had words when Celtic’s Swedish defender celebrated right in the Aberdeen man’s face. “He came over and apologised so there’s no hard feelings there for me. I’m a big enough man to take that,” Shinnie said. “They’ve won the treble and they deserve to celebrate.”
When you go back to that game in Gibraltar, I don’t think anyone would have expected this