Rodgers’ Invincibles can join Lisbon Lions as true Celtic greats
THIS afternoon kicks off a very special week for Celtic as they will receive the SPFL Premiership title after their home game against Hearts.
If they avoid defeat to the Jambos it means they will have gone the whole league campaign unbeaten – which would be a magnificent achievement.
That would see Brendan Rodgers and his players given the “Invincibles” tag and rightly so.
They then play their final game of the season on Saturday against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final.
Victory will see them clinch the Treble and go through the entire domestic period during 2016/17 unbeaten.
And this Thursday will mark the 50th anniversary of the proudest moment on the club’s history, when they became the first British side to win club football’s greatest prize after their 2-1 victory against Inter Milan in Lisbon.
There are some special events in the next two weeks to mark the occasion and I will be honoured to be in the company of the Lions and some special guests at the Hydro on Thursday evening as around 10,000 Celtic fans will pay tribute to them.
I’m looking forward to being there and paying my own tribute to a group of remarkable men, men I was privileged and honoured to train and play with when I joined Celtic in the summer of 1967.
Jock Stein and his players managed to do the Treble in 1969 and Martin O’Neill’s squad repeated that feat in 2001. It’s not been won since by Celtic but they will have the chance to go into the history books at 5pm on Saturday.
Celtic will start the game as outstanding favourites. They have played some great football over the course of the season and I think the two draws against Manchester City in the Champions League will have given them extra belief. They played very well in both games.
Patrick Roberts scored at the Etihad against his parent club back in December and he has hit new heights in the past few weeks.
He played extremely well against Rangers in the double header last month and was unplayable against Partick Thistle when he scored two stunners in the 5-0 victory.
Manchester City paid Fulham £11 million to sign him two years ago and he has spent the last 18 months at Parkhead.
He has blossomed into an exciting young player. He entertains the crowd and has added consistency and the mentality to perform in big pressure games.
The agreement for both clubs and the player has worked out nicely. He is now set to go back to City and will sit down with the staff there and discuss the next stage of his career.
He will want first-team football and if he is not going to get that at City, a move back to Celtic for another season would benefit everyone involved.
I don’t think Pep Guardiola will sell him because the player has displayed all the qualities to suggest he can play for City. Whether that’s going to be next season or not will be up to Guardiola.
There is a good relationship between Celtic and City and that’s why they have a chance of getting him again.
Celtic will do all they can to make a deal happen and the player will have the chance to get another 40 first-team games under his belt, including the chance to play in the Champions League, providing the club can negotiate its way through the tricky qualifiers in July and August.
But, before that, they have a Cup Final to negotiate and Aberdeen will not make it easy for them.
Derek McInnes and his players will have been given a massive confidence boost after their win against Rangers at Ibrox last Wednesday night. It was a fine performance and they merited the three points.
They also played well in the 3-1 defeat to Celtic. Sure, they didn’t defend well enough in the opening 10 minutes and were punished, but they showed great mental strength and character to recover from that and make a game of it.
They will want to win this Cup, becoming the first Aberdeen side to do so since 1990. But don’t tell me they go into this game with nothing to lose. I don’t buy that. They have an Cup to lose and they will want to be celebrating with their supporters.
Because they are underdogs doesn’t mean they will get any satisfaction from just being involved in the occasion.
But it’s Celtic for me, 3-0.