‘WINNING MENTALITY’
There is little chance of Brendan Rodgers resting on his laurels when the Celtic manager is ever-mindful that the wreaths have spikes.
After banking a second consecutive title last Sunday with the sort of humiliation over the club’s derby rivals that is becoming ritualistic, Rodgers is now a Scottish Cup final win over Motherwell away from unprecedented back-to-back trebles.
The halcyon days that the Irishman has brought to Celtic are, in so many ways, without genuine domestic parallel. More than the fact that they are chasing a first six-trophy haul across two seasons, they are the first team to win seven titles without their hegemony ever being seriously threatened in such a run.
But lasting satisfaction does not come with that territory for Rodgers, pictured. He only needs to think about how quickly that the glow of delivering a treble in his first season began to dim.
“Look, the bad times are just around the corner,” said the 45-year-old. “So, no, I can’t really sit back and enjoy this. I had this last season, you know. We won the treble against Aberdeen [with victory in the Scottish Cup final] and then three days into my break, I had this fear of complacency. It’s a fear I always have.
“We produced a document on the traps we must not fall into to ensure we succeed over the longer term. When you are gone, when you are out of it, you can look back and all the nice moments can become clearer for you. But not right now.”
If hunger in paradise sounds like it ought to be the mantra for a Celtic manager on a ceaseless quest for betterment, it is even more than that for Rodgers. Because it is the name of a book by FC Midtjylland chairman Rasmus Ankersen – full title Hunger in Paradise: How to Save Success from Failure – that appears to have become his footballing bible. “It is a great little book based
“No matter how many titles you win, no matter how well you have played, you have to prove yourself every day, and take that mentality into the games. You can’t go soft, which is very easily done”
BRENDAN RODGERS