THE story of the Brendan Rodgers era began in the posh seats at Hampden Park last April a moment or two after Tom Rogic’s penalty in the shoot-out sent the ball into a Mount Florida garden.
It was reported elsewhere at the time, accurately it seems, that the Celtic directors including Dermot Desmond were rather taken aback by the reaction and celebrations of their counterparts in the blue suits and brown brogues, which is another way of saying they were raging with what was going on a few feet away.
“They’re different,” is what one Parkhead high heid yin said when asked by others inside the club what the new regime over the road was all about. Not only that but a team from the Championship out-thought and outfought Ronny Deila’s lot, a group which had been drifting all season.
On that exact same Sunday night it was decided there would be a change of manager even if Deila didn’t do the decent thing, and as he was a decent man he fell on his sword 24 hours later.
So who was next? David Moyes, Malky Mackay, Roy Keane again, Neil Lennon and even Martin O’Neill were mentioned; some of whom were interviewed. Desmond, however, had another man in his mind just as he did in 2000 when Gus Hiddink, a superb coach it must be said, looked all-but secure as the new Celtic manager.
That preferred candidate in the eyes of the club’s majority shareholder was O’Neill. This time it was Brendan Rodgers. Desmond took it upon himself to speak to the former Liverpool manager and ‘sell the club’ to someone who was already a fan.
Promises were made and kept about transfer money. Rodgers became the highest-paid manager in Celtic’s history. He was given permission to bring in his own people; in short, the manager got to run the club.
Just like 16 years previously, Desmond got his call spot-on. Rodgers even more so.
Scott Sinclair has been a star, Moussa Dembele a revelation, while Kolo Toure was vital in the opening weeks and months, especially in the Champions League qualifiers. But, while they were new signings, most of the important players were already at the club.
That includes James Forrest, Stuart Armstrong and Jozo Simunovic, three players whose departures had transpired, would hardly have been mourned by the supporters. Almost every player has upped his game under Rodgers, just like the squad of 2000 did when another confident and charismatic man from the north of Ireland swept into the club with a promise things would get better.
I was there the night Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar beat Celtic 1-0 in Rodgers’s first game. I was also high up in the Camp Nou when Barcelona ran riot and the Scottish press pack began looking up Celtic's all-time biggest losses way before the end.
However, those fortunate enough to spend any time around the club this season, especially with the manager who has been good with the press if someone not slow to make you sink back in your chair, and even a fool could have told you that these were mere bumps in the road.
The emphatic 5-1 win over Rangers, three days before that match in Barcelona, ridiculed any notion Mark Warburton’s side would challenge. It ended Joey Barton’s time in Glasgow as well, the veteran midfielder proving he was in a different league to Scott Brown although not in the way he had boasted.
The Ladbrokes Premiership season began with a superb 2-1 win at Tynecastle, Sinclair coming off the bench, to score a superb winner. Then came a 5-0 League Cup thrashing of Motherwell with several first-choice players left out.
And after a 5-2 home win over Hapoel Tel Aviv, they travelled to Israel and put in a performance lacking quality but supplemented with grit and bravery, previously absent traits, which saw the club reach the Champions League group stages, pocket £30m and more or less guarantee domestic domination for years to come.
And in Scotland they kept winning. Aberdeen had a decent go at Pittodrie, Motherwell were 2-0 up at half-time, Rangers played well at Ibrox and took a lead. None could take away a point.
Returning to the early days, Leigh Griffiths’s goal in Astana proved the team could cope with playing away from home in Europe, and the draws against Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City – both games should have been won – back that up.
There was a 4-1 win over Aberdeen, who played well that day but couldn’t lay a glove in the League Cup final, and then came December when a squad which had already had more games than anyone played nine times in 29 days.
They won eight, including the Hogmanay Old Firm match at Ibrox, a lone draw coming at the Etihad against a club which has spent close to £1bn over the past 10 years. This run coincided with the one period when performances dipped.
St Mirren in the Scottish Cup was one of those days which hinted something daft might happen. The team bottom of the Championship were 1-0 up and comfortable. Celtic won 4-1 against “the best team we’ve faced” according to Rodgers.
Again they found a way to win.
That Celtic are the Scottish champions is no great boast. Equally if a treble is secured then many will say that’s the least they should do. However, that is to miss the point. Rodgers’s Celtic have done all this with panache, Parkhead is full again and the fans have some heroes for the first time in a long time.
Nobody is claiming such domination is good for Scottish football but Celtic can only beat what’s in front of them and they have done all of this while putting smiles on their supporters’ faces.
It’s fair to say those jubilant Ibrox blazers may now wish they had been a tad less over the top with their celebrations.
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