Dominic Andrew 
Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Sport
It is difficult as a football fan to grasp the full scale of witnessing history being made before your very eyes. We sing proudly, and speak at length of the feats of teams gone by without ever truly contemplating that those moments could come again.
Even the most optimistic of Celtic fans would have maintained a healthy scepticism upon Brendan Rodgers’ appointment were you to tell them that a year down the line they would have witnessed a treble-winning season further cemented into the history books atop a season unbeaten domestically. With the League Cup secured and the league very much in the bag by Christmas, I’m sure many still viewed the prospect of a treble with an understandable degree of trepidation given our short-comings in recent years; and certainly not with the added bonus of having not lost a single game against domestic opposition.
With every expectation met, or indeed surpassed, Rodgers and his Invincibles have written their names into Celtic, and Scottish football, folklore. At no real time during the season did the momentum ever seem like letting up, and even with the team crowned Champions for the sixth successive time, they continued to steam-roll everything put in front of them. A respectable but unremarkable showing in a difficult Champions League group, and four draws against Scottish teams throughout the campaign are the only things to grumble about but they are very much eclipsed by the magnitude of this year’s accomplishments. It is a testament to both team and manager how effectively and efficient they were over 59 games this season.
With the welcome news of Rodgers’ contract extension through 2021, it is hard not dream of future glories. With one of the most outstanding debut seasons for a manager in the history of Celtic at an end, all eyes will be looking towards what may be in store for next season. The most obvious and urgent requirement will be Champions League qualification. Defeats in the away matches of qualifying rounds against Lincoln Red Imps and Hapoel Be’er Sheva last Summer were during the infancy of Rodgers’ tenure, and before the reinvigorating effect on the forms of a plethora of underperforming Celts became apparent. One would feel that with a more familiar and cohesive unit raring to go, it is expected that we’ll reach the group stages in a more clinical fashion.
I have spoken before of how Rodgers has both the ability and resources at his disposal to emulate, and even surpass the achievements of previous managerial greats such as Martin O’Neill; who achieved many great things with an accomplished, experienced and distinguished side. I am of the opinion that the Celtic players in this current set-up as a group are a younger, fresher lot with more time and room for improvement and growth. Undoubtedly, there will be a degree of transfer activity in both directions as Rodgers’ will seek to shore up the side in the run up to his sophomore season.
It is worth remembering that this squad, for the most part, was largely inherited from the Ronny Deila regime, with some shrewd additions. The manager does not perpetuate the image of one who will spend excessively or irresponsibly but neither does he strike me as frugal or miserly in his approach. With the imminent departure of Patrick Roberts to the chorus of sixty-thousand breaking-hearts, we await transfer activity with bated breath.
So too must it be the time for Celtic to cast off the shackles of the selling-club mentality. True, the club has invested well and made staggering profits from the buying and selling of talents such as Fraser Forster, Victor Wanyama and Virgil Van Dijk; but to extrapolate that domestic domination, it is perhaps time to think about continuing to nurture and preserve our existing talent. The outstanding form of the likes of Kieran Tierney, Jozo Simunovic, Stuart Armstrong and Mouassa Dembele have made them the envy of many of European football’s big names; though we can breath a sigh of relief at the club’s insistence that there is no urgent need to sell, and the stated contentment of many of the squad.
In seasons gone by, the inactivity and unwillingness of the board to spend big on both a manager and players has been to the seemingly endless frustration of the fans. However, credit where credit is due: Rodgers’ appointment was the first, in what one hopes, is a number of more positive and ambitious ventures for the club. What comes next though, must be a desire to reestablish the club on the continental scene; to transcend the notion of Celtic being a stepping-stone on the way to bigger things or a platform to gain attention from down South.
There was something of a lack of urgency about the club’s general direction in recent years, and to an extent, a sense of contentment from the club’s hierarchy to be pleased with our lot. If ever there was a time to start getting some bigger ideas into formulation, however, now is that time. Rodgers has been produced everything asked of him, and more, thus far, so maybe it’s now time to ask for the approach which will see us catapulted back up into European limelight on a long-term scale.
Unfortunately, we don’t share the same TV windfall as our English neighbours, so the Scottish game is nowhere near as tantalising or lucrative. Yet, with an ambitious manager and playing squad, and such a passionate, loyal fanbase, it can be the time to take the next step in our natural evolution as a football club. With a careful and considered approach to spending, the proper retention of talent and the memory of an unbeaten, treble-winning season fresh in our collective mind, we may be standing at the gates of many more glorious and record-breaking seasons.
The time is now for Celtic to carry forward this past season’s history-making momentum and reclaim our place amongst the big names in football. Like the Lisbon Lions before them, a team still celebrated fifty years on, it’s time to make history on the European stage.
