Rodgers to hail first season, win or lose

BRENDAN RODGERS insists his Celtic squad will not deserve to be bracketed with previous Treble failures if Rangers cause a William Hill Scottish Cup shock today.

Rodgers (below) is on schedule to become only the third Parkhead manager to lead the club to a domestic sweep of silverware after Jock Stein, twice, and Martin O’Neill cleaned up.

His title-winning stars are only five games away from becoming ‘Invincibles’ by going through the entire 38-match league schedule with an undefeated record.

Yet even if today’s semi-final rivals prevail, Rodgers stressed that his maiden year in charge will still be hailed as a spectacular success.

He said: ‘The perception for me is pretty clear, whatever the result is. We’ve had a brilliant season. Lots of room for improvement, yes.

‘But if I look at the landmarks over the course of the season, it is phenomenal. Sometimes, things might go against you that you can’t control. But what I can control is my thoughts and ideas of the season so far. We have a chance to make it an absolutely historic one.’