Soccer

Celtic must be wary of ‘pats on the back’, says Brendan Rodgers

Bhoys complete another treble with comfortable Scottish Cup victory over Motherwell

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers lifts the trophy after winning the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Photograph: Graham Stuart/PA Wire

Mon May 21 2018 - 01:00

Brendan Rodgers will crack the whip to ensure Celtic follow up their historic double treble with further domestic domination.

Rodgers has achieved a feat that escaped Jock Stein and Alex Ferguson after leading his side to back-to-back clean sweeps.

The Scottish Cup was added to this year’s haul after a masterful 2-0 win over Motherwell at Hampden Park on Saturday as the Parkhead men backed up their Premiership and League Cup triumphs.

But while the Northern Irishman was full of praise for his players, he warned they can think again if they are looking for an easy ride next term.

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Rodgers insists he will expect more from them now as he guards against the complacency that might scuttle their next mission – making it three trebles in a row.

“I certainly need to push them even harder next season,” said the Celtic manager. “I think we can be better. We need to get better again. We dropped too many points this year.

“There’s lots for us to push for next season. We enter every competition to win and that will be the aim next season.

“When you have the success we had last year, it would have been so easy to have gone soft, gone timid, not had the same aggression.

“For teams like us, it’s not the punches to the head and body that stop you, it’s the pats on the back.

“We can never be satisfied. We have to be hungry to succeed.”

If there were any nerves in the Parkhead ranks, Rodgers’s players never betrayed them as they neutered Motherwell’s physical threat before creating the openings for victory.

Callum McGregor took advantage of Tom Aldred’s wayward clearing header to rifle home his side’s first goal on 11 minutes.

Shortly afterwards, Olivier Ntcham finished off a fine team goal as he found the bottom corner with a little help from Cédric Kipré's toe to put the seal on victory 14 minutes later.

“This is a day that will last forever,” added Rodgers. “I said before the game that there are not too many days in your life that you will wake up with a chance of creating history.

“There have been different eras during the great history of the game up here. But in all that time a double treble was never achieved.

“My satisfaction is for the club and the joy that it will give people tonight.”

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