WELL, dear reader, the hard yards have been done and the Premiership will remain in the Celtic Park trophy room which has been home for the impressive silverware for thirteen of the past 14 seasons.
In June last year, your humble scribe penned a column emphasising the importance of the champions winning their 55th crown.
Trust me, it is a significant number. You better believe it.
There was consternation across the city when Brendan Rodgers’ side got back on track to claim No.54 – their third flag in succession – when there was a mistaken belief the trophy might find its way to Govan.
Back then, following three league defeats to Kilmarnock, Celtic and Aberdeen, the Ibrox board reacted with brutal speed to sack Michael Beale in October and replace him with Philippe Clement.
DEAD MAN WALKING…Philippe Clement was axed after only 16 months in charge at Ibrox.
Much was made of the team’s League Cup Final success over Aberdeen the following month and some people who should know so much better indulged in preposterous talk of a treble on the cards.
The chatter got even more laughable when it was ludicrously suggested that the Europa League should be considered as a possible addition to the honours list.
The hierarchy were willing to throw money – ill advisable when you take recent history into account – at winning the championship. How else can you explain the sanctioning of £49,000-per-week wage packet for loanee Fabio Silva from Wolves in the January transfer window?
It was just more than year ago, Clement led his players on a lap of honour around the Ibrox pitch after their 3-3 draw against Celtic on April 7. Yes, there would have been palpable relief at rescuing a point with an equaliser deep in stoppage-time after trailing 2-0 at the interval.
But the noises coming out of the southside of the city alerted everyone that the club, with their astute Belgian manager leading the way, were on course for glory.
REACH FOR THE TOP…the successful Brendan Rodgers and the sacked Philippe Clement.
Maybe their rampant optimism was understandable. After all, they had been eight points behind the reigning champions in January, but the six-goal stalemate left them just one adrift with a game in hand.
They had seven matches to manoeuvre and Celtic had six. Amid the deafening light blue hubris and hoohah, Brendan Rodgers spoke in the immediate aftermath and responded with a certain calm air of authority.
“You were never going to win anything today, but take [the title race]in the right direction,” said the Irishman. “There’s still a lot to play for. We are in a really good position.”
Six victories in their remaining six encounters – including a 2-1 success over Clement and Co at Parkhead in May – saw Celtic crowned champions for the 54th time.
The Ibrox club were eight points off course when the medals were being handed out.
THE OLD ROUTINE…Brendan Rodgers holds aloft the League Cup after December’s Hampden triumph.
Celtic won the Scottish Cup when the clubs met at Hampden on May 25 and any thoughts of a treble from elsewhere were buried under rubble when realism was introduced to proceedings.
And Italy’s Atalanta won the European prize after thumping Jeremie Frimpong’s Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in Dublin’s fair city.
And here we are today. Rangers, or whatever moniker they choose to play under, have seen Celtic equal their tally of 55 championships. Yes, you and I – and every right-thinking individual – know there was a sound and valid case all honours gained during a prolific and corrupt period between 2001 and 2010 should have been declared null and void.
However, a judge, some bewigged character by the name of Lord William Nimmo Smith, ruled secret EBT payments to players and other influential employees did not help them win five Premier League titles. Farcical doesn’t come close.
In the shadow of this season’s failure at Ibrox, Clement, the so-called acclaimed professor of the dug-out, has gone the way of Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst before him; mercilessly sacked after a mere 16 months in charge.
Heavy prices have been paid for the inability to derail the Hoops juggernaut on its way to the league winners’ podium yet again.
There have been changes in the boardroom and it appears a cataclysmic upheaval is on its way in the summer.
In the meantime, Celtic are on the brink of a world record ninth treble.
If the number 55 was monumental, you have to wonder what 56 will bring.
