Managers who bossed
is always there, it’s never disappearing. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in the big games, the players are ready and focused. It’s what it’s about – I am up here to win and there is pressure. I love that side of it – and sometimes I don’t. That’s just the way it goes.
“You could never imagine it could go as well as it has for me at Celtic. From the first day I walked into the club, it’s been amazing. It’s always complex, it’s never as easy as it seems when you win.
“A lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes, a lot of work, the brilliant staff and the club has really supported me in my time here, strategically. All the interests are aligned at the club and that allows me to work with confidence. But to think we’d be standing here two years later having created history – no, I’d be lying if I thought that would happen.”
The remarkable feat of successive clean sweeps was completed with a 2-0 Scottish Cup final victory over Motherwell at Hampden which was a perfect example of Celtic’s tactical intelligence under Rodgers.
“You always have to respect the other team,” he said. “Motherwell test you and our defenders dealt really well with that.
“We played 3-4-3, which gives us the three at the back to cope with their two strikers. It gives us the spare man in midfield, four versus three, and then we pushed our boys on the sides high up to try and take Motherwell back. Physically, we coped with that really, really well. Then our football came out. “You’ve always got to find a story, find a way to motivate. I said to the players that they woke up on Saturday morning with a moment to create history.
“You don’t get many times like that in your life. So go and take it and make sure it can live with you forever.
“Because if you don’t, then you’ll be lying on a sunbed in a couple of weeks’ time and it won’t flipping taste nice! Those are the ones that you’ll remember.”
Celtic, inevitably, were not as consistently impressive this season as they were during the remarkable undefeated domestic campaign of 2016-17. Their dominance was achieved in a different manner this time around, one which brought Rodgers just as much satisfaction.
“I think what we gained from this year is that when we’re not always at our best, we can still win,” he said. “That’s important. We had 61 games, that’s a lot of training and preparation and big-game mentality. The players will come out of this confident. They will get a bit of a longer rest this summer as well. As a manager, I then have to push them harder next season.” 0 Brendan Rodgers holds aloft the Scottish Cup following Saturday’s comfortable win against Motherwell, and in doing so becomes the first to oversee a double treble. Far right, Kieran Tierney celebrates with the Celtic fans.