EVERGREEN Celtic duo Callum McGregor and James Forrest plus keeper Scott Bain are the only survivors from Brendan Rodgers’ last Scottish Cup outing.
First time around, the Irishman was in charge of the Hoops line-up that hammered St Johnstone 5-0 at Parkhead on February 5 2019 with Scott Sinclair thumping in a hat-trick.
Skipper Brown and Forrest added the others as the holders eased into the quarter-finals where they beat Hibs 2-0 at Easter Road with Neil Lennon in the hot seat after Rodgers had quit to join Leicester City three weeks after the win over the Perth outfit.
It’s in the history books now that the former club captain led the Hoops to a phenomenal treble treble with a 2-1 triumph over Hearts at Hampden on the iconic date of May 25.
For the record, the team in Rodgers’ final appearance in the national competition was: Bain, Toljan, Boyata, Siminuvic (sub: Ajer), Hayes; Brown, McGregor, Christie (sub: Edouard): Forrest, Sinclair; Burke (sub: Weah).
Now it all begins again for the 51-year-old gaffer tomorrow at 4pm when Highland League side Buckie Thistle provide the opposition.
Viewing the intriguing clash, Rodgers said: “I’m so looking forward to the game.
“When we saw the draw and we saw the reaction of the guys at Buckie Thistle, it’s great for the players and obviously for manager Graeme [Stewart] that he can be stood on the side of the pitch rather than in the stands, which is great.
“It’s what the Cup is all about. It’s a great story. They’ve got to come down a long way. They deserve to be there and we’ve prepared like we would for any game.
“We’ve looked at some of their games and we’ve seen how they got through and, for us, we’ve got to do a professional job at home.
“But, hopefully, it will be a great occasion for them and their supporters to come to Celtic Park.”
Rodgers, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “This is a game that we’re expected to win, but I also recognise the joy and the journey that Buckie Thistle have had to get here.
“It’s an incredible story, but , hopefully, as I said, they can come and have a good experience, but clearly not too good.
“I loved the Scottish Cup when I was here and any of the Cup competitions are clearly special.”
Rodgers completed the memorable Invincible season in his debut campaign when Tom Rogic struck a last-gasp winner against Aberdeen and he followed that up with a 2-0 success over Motherwell a year later.
The second time-around gaffer added: “My memories of the few times being involved are great – the first one was iconic.
“It was a real special feeling, and that was just an amazing memory.
“And then beating Motherwell on a lovely day at Hampden was also great.
“So, that’s the ambition when you start out in the competition – you want to get to Hampden and our idea is to go all the way again.”
