Only team that can stop Celtic lifting treble is CELTIC
Boyd was last to skipper Hoops to clean sweep but insists new Bhoys will be next
TOM BOYD was the last Celtic captain to win a Treble.
Now 16 years on he reckons the only team capable of stopping Scott Brown emulating him this term are the Hoops themselves.
In 2001 Boyd got his hands on the Premier League, League Cup and Scottish Cup – the first time since 1969 the club won all three.
The former captain has been on hand to see Brown lift two of those prizes this term.
And with Brendan Rodgers driving towards the landmark for just a fourth time in Celtic’s history, Boyd can only see their dream derailed if the current high standards drop off.
He said: “Celtic are looking very good which is probably an understatement. They really deserve to be where they are.
“They’re unbeaten so far because no one has been able to get the better of them. That’s down to their quality and how they’ve dominated matches.
“They’ve been outstanding this season under the influence of the manager.
“Throughout a campaign a team can under-perform on occasion. Generally that can happen but I can’t think of any games this season that they have been lucky to win.
“They have all been deserved wins and the ones they have drawn, the Rangers game would be one where the level of performances would make that the right result on that day.
“It wasn’t as commanding from Celtic that day as it has been throughout the rest of the season.
“So it would need them to drop their standards for anyone to beat them and I don’t think this is something the manager is going to be doing anytime yet.”
Boyd makes no secret of the fact his confidence in the current squad comes from his belief in the manager.
Rodgers has transformed the champions since arriving to great fanfare last summer with his signings and the performances of the squad lifting the quality and expectations at Parkhead.
The next fortnight is set to highlight just how stark the contrast is from 12 months ago.
This time last season Celtic headed to Hampden for a Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers looking uneasy under the management of Ronny Deila.
When they go in against their great rivals on the same stage on Sunday week, Rodgers’s team are likely to still be flying high.
Boyd has seen first hand the demands of the boss and also his ability to influence affairs even after a contest is underway, pointing to the thumping win at Tynecastle that sealed the title.
He said: “Hearts were really up for it against Celtic at the start recently and tested Craig Gordon on a couple of occasions. But then a small tactical switch from the manager had an immediate impact with Scott Sinclair’s opening goal after moving his position slightly.
“The manager makes changes and they have an impact. Certainly the matches I’ve seen this season when they haven’t had strikers.
“Sinclair and Patrick Roberts were switched in a previous game against Hearts and Celtic got a goal almost immediately.
“It shows you someone who knows the game and is clued-up to make the sort of changes that influence a game and aren’t just for the sake of it.
“He doesn’t do that and it’s great to have a manager of the quality who can influence matches at the start of games and also during them to change the course of the match.
“He knows how to handle the teams in Scotland and how to tweak things if it’s not quite happening.
“It will take a massive drop in the quality of the players at Celtic for them to lose.
“Mikael Lustig played a pass up the line against Hearts, trying to fire it to Callum McGregor, and it was a couple of feet wide of him.
“The manager was raging and that just shows he won’t let standards drop for the team.
“That’s because it would be a massive achievement, not just to win the league, but to then go on and go through the season unbeaten.
“That’s an incredible ask but when you see performances and the way they change from defence to attack and quality of the goals and finishing, it would take Celtic to be really off their game for an opponent to have an opportunity to win.”
The next step for Celtic is Ross County this Sunday in the Premiership and emerging unscathed from Dingwall will see the squad just seven games from an incredible feat.
Boyd said: “It comes from the
manager bringing in quality players but also getting players to perform at a higher level than they had been.
“Who is to say they will not get better next season with the influence of who they could be bringing into the club?
“It’s still the early stages of Brendan’s career at Celtic but you would say that he has made the perfect start.
“There are two games to go to win the Scottish Cup and get a Treble which would be a magnificent achievement.
“Then there is the other target of going through the whole season unbeaten domestically.
“I remember working under Martin O’Neill and generally the changes he made didn’t deter from the team apart from a couple of games at the end of the season when we lost after the title was won.
“During the season Brendan has made changes and brought in young boys and things but the balance of keeping up the levels and resting players is there.
“There is still tons and tons to play for and that’s good because there can be other times in these situations when you can switch off.
“I can’t see Brendan allowing that to happen.”
It would take a massive drop in the quality of the players at Celtic for them to lose