Rodgers promises his Bhoys will come back with a hunger to make it a third clean sweep

THIS was no celebration killer and certainly not in the same ball park as Alex Ferguson’s post-match rant in disgust at the performance of his Aberdeen players after they won the famous trophy against Rangers in 1983.

But there was more than a hint of the relentless desire to maintain and raise standards from Brendan Rodgers as he moved swiftly on from handing out the accolades to his team of first-ever double Treble achievers.

The Celtic manager turned the page after writing his and the club’s place in history to inform that he is already thinking of how to do it all again, except better.

By clinching the league with more points, by winning with greater style, by moving towards the ultimate aim of ‘Ten-in-a-row’ with a third season of utter dominance under his watch.

And to do that, he warned that he plans to ask more questions of his players to ready them for the challenge next season of staying clear of the chasing pack.

When asked what was next for his squad of history-makers, Rodgers replied: ‘To win everything again is the idea. I certainly need to push them even harder next season.

‘They won’t get too many pats on the back. This is our job, we are here to win.

‘I think we can be better. This year was always going to be difficult on the back of last. But to still churn that out and have that winning mentality and produce winning performances when you really need it is a real mark of the group.

‘We need to get better again. We dropped too many points this year, especially at home. There’s lots for us to push for next season.

‘We enter every season to win and that will be the aim next season. For teams like ourselves it’s not so much the punches to the head and body that stop you. It’s the pats on the back.’

Rodgers said he expected the league as a whole to be stronger next season, without referencing the specific prospect of his former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard throwing down a challenge in the Rangers job.

However, there are characteristics and class already ingrained in his group that will make it easier for him to eke out the improvements he desires.

He said: ‘The spirit of the team is strong, the mentality of the team is to improve and get better. I don’t have players that don’t want to be better every day and that’s clearly important.

‘We can never be satisfied. In the cycle or era that we’ll be here, for however long it is, we have to be hungry to succeed.

‘My satisfaction is for the club as a whole, the joy it will give people tonight and during the off season. And then it will all quickly be forgotten about and we’ll go again next year. What drives me is just being the very best I can be in my time here.

‘It’s a club, of course, I have an affinity with. I have a close bond with and understand what the supporters want.

‘You want to be as successful as you possibly can, so when the day comes that I get moved on from here or whatever happens at least I know I have given Celtic absolutely everything.

‘It goes back to my starting point: development. I like to develop players, individually, that consequently will improve teams.

‘And then you hope to be as successful as you can, so it’s a constant thing for me. I’ve always been like that.’

Of those he has developed, perhaps now Callum McGregor can be mentioned in the same breath as Moussa Dembele and Kieran Tierney in terms of wanted men in Celtic colours that could command major transfer fees. His constant improvement and high-class displays in big games — often producing goals — must now make him a target for the big clubs who have come to take a look at the French striker and Scotland’s young left-back phenomenon in the last two years. McGregor’s superb opening goal yesterday was his 12th of a season in which he scored in all five competitions — three domestic plus a Champions League strike against Bayern Munich and a first-leg winner over Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League.

Summing up the 24-year-old’s contribution to the Celtic achievement, Rodgers noted: ‘He has grown in confidence. He is tactically very good, he understands football.

‘You only need to tell him anything once and he gets it.

‘And he has an eye for a goal. He was a young player coming through, but now he comes into the biggest games and he produces.

‘His job is to score goals, produce goals and press the game when he hasn’t got the ball. And he does all of those things to a really high level, consistently. I am absolutely delighted for him.

‘His goal was a wonderful strike off his right foot that gave us a real good start in the game.’