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If Celtic can win the Premier Sports Cup Final against Hibernian at Hampden on Sunday, manager Ange Postecoglou will have won the Scottish League Cup as his first trophy as Hoops boss.
Should the Celtic boss manage to achieve that feat, then he will be following in the footsteps of some club legends that won the League Cup as their first trophy as Celtic manager.
One manager that managed to achieve this was Wim Jansen. He led the Hoops to a 3-0 win over Dundee United in 1997. That win gave the side plenty of confidence going forward, and the side went on to win the league.
YouTube: celtic 3 dundee utd 0 1997 league cup final
Another manager who won the League Cup as his first trophy was Martin O’Neill. His Celtic side beat Kilmarnock 3-0 in the 2001 final thanks to a Henrik Larsson hat-trick. Just like Jansen, O’Neill’s Celtic side went on to win the title that season.
YouTube: Celtic 3 Kilmarnock 0 2001 LCF
Ronny Deila was another manager that won the League Cup at the first opportunity, with his Celtic side defeating Dundee United 2-0 in the 2015 final. Once more, Celtic went on to win the title that season.
YouTube: Celtic 2 Dundee Utd 0 15th March 2015
Lastly, Brendan Rodgers’ side won the League Cup at the first opportunity in 2016, beating Aberdeen 3-0, and, once again, the Bhoys won the league title that season.
YouTube: Aberdeen 0-3 Celtic | Celtic Secure Historic 100th Trophy! | 2016/17 Betfred Cup Final
There seems to be a pattern emerging for a number of Celtic managers. The team that goes on to win the League Cup wins the league title later in the season. That could happen with Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side.
The current Celtic squad has a number of players that are new to the club, and have not won a host of trophies, unlike the previous generation of Celtic players who won a number of trophies for the club.
It would be a real confidence booster for the current group of players should they beat Hibernian and win the first trophy of the Scottish season. Perhaps, like the previous teams mentioned in this article, the team will take such confidence from the win that they end the season as league champions.
Only time will tell if that happens, but winning trophies is what Celtic is all about, and after not winning any last season the sooner the Hoops add another trophy to the club’s collection the better.
Postecoglou has got off to a decent start to his career as Celtic boss, but it would turn into a great start should he lead the Hoops to victory at Hampden Park.
