IT is several years now since Rangers completed The Journey, as their climb from the bottom division to the top flight became widely known throughout Scottish football, and secured promotion to the Premiership.
Yet, Celtic have, unbeknown to onlookers, been on something of a marathon expedition of their own during the past 10 months or so and now have, at long last, their final destination firmly in their sights.
Brendan Rodgers revealed that he had mapped out his players’ entire season last summer as he spoke to the media at Lennoxtown yesterday ahead of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final – and had targeted a clean sweep of domestic silverware before a ball had so much as been kicked.
Every milestone on the arduous trek which his charges set out on back in August – winning the Premier Sports Cup, reaching the Champions League knockout rounds and retaining the William Premiership trophy – has been reached so far.
All that remains is for them to beat Aberdeen at Hampden tomorrow, lift the final piece of silverware of the season and complete a world record ninth treble.
Talk about the power of positive thinking.
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“The players will have their own ideas about what they want to achieve and goals individually at the start of each season,” said Rodgers. “But as a team it's about providing a road map for the season right from pre-season.
“It is about mapping it out on the journey, right the way through to Champions League qualification, through to winning the first trophy of the season, getting to the halfway point. It is just taking the guys on the journey of what the season could look like, and the various signposts along the way.
“On top of that, it's performance driven. We know we want to win, that's why we're here, that's what the expectation is here, what drives us. But there's a process to that and it's just really about outlining what that can look like, from June right through to the end of the season.”
Sports psychologists will all tell athletes that visualising what they want to achieve in the future can help them to attain their objectives. But Rodgers knows from bitter personal experience that things do not always go entirely according to plan. So he is proud of what his players have accomplished during the 2024/25 campaign.
“You hope if makes a difference, but it didn't last year,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, the challenge is to win every domestic trophy. Add to that all the performance-related goals in terms of the goals you want to score, concede.
“Listen, the vision is very clear for a club like ourselves at the beginning of a season. Well, it certainly is now. We know what the expectation is. It's incredible really how that has transpired to be the norm, that you are sitting declaring that the treble is what we want to achieve.
Rodgers, who has never lost a game at Hampden in 28 visits and who is expected to get the better of his Aberdeen counterpart Jimmy Thelin once again tomorrow, admitted that months of meticulous planning and non-stop competitive action had taken a heavy toll on him.
Asked if he was looking forward to his summer break, he said, “Yes, it's just relentless really, the preparation that goes in, dealing with the media, the football and inspiring players.
“Managing a club this size, of course, there's a lot of expectation and a lot of demand. So I think when the end of the season comes, I'll be tired and ready for a rest.”
Rodgers resisted the temptation to celebrate when Celtic were presented with the Premiership trophy for the fourth year running at Parkhead last Saturday because he knew he would need to be at his best physically and mentally during Scottish Cup week.
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“I don't even think I had a beer,” he said. “I just was at home and just relaxed. The next day likewise. The big celebration will hopefully come at the end of the season. It's been such a long season. I'm going to attempt to relax after next week. But for now, we want one final push.
“If we can do that there, then it would mark a really fantastic season in the club's history. We've been fighting so long to gain credibility and being competitive at the very highest level of Europe. So I feel we've done that to an extent this season.
“But, of course, your bread and butter is your domestic football. That will be the same with any of the top teams in any of the big leagues. Domestically, you want to be dominant. So, the players have the chance to etch their names into the concrete.”
Rodgers would become the first Celtic manager to oversee three trebles if Callum McGregor and his fellow players prevail against Graeme Shinnie and his team mates in Mount Florida. But the Northern Irishman is only concerned with his side crossing the finishing line in the journey they set out on last summer.
“I haven't really thought about what it would mean on a personal level,” he said. “Maybe when I leave here and move on, I can think a wee bit more deeply on it. My immediate focus is just purely on the game and giving the best performance that we can. Then we can see what that looks like at the end. If it means three trebles, then it means that.”
