BRENDAN RODGERS goes into the Premier Sports League Cup Final against Rangers at Hampden tomorrow afternoon on the back of a phenomenal record.
Remarkably, the Celtic manager has sampled defeat just once in THIRTY-THREE domestic Cup games over his two stints in charge of the champions.
The only blip in a truly stupendous sequence of success came in August last year when Rodgers, in his third comeback game, watched his side, with newcomers Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Holm in the starting line-up, collapse to a 1-0 League Cup reverse against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The result ended the side’s hopes of winning the competition’s silverware for the seventh time in eight years. It was also the team chief’s first defeat in 25 Cup matches.
THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD…Brendan Rodgers holds aloft the League Cup in 2016 as he celebrates his first trophy victory as Celtic manager with a 3-0 win over Aberdeen.
BACK WITH A VENGEANCE…Brendan Rodgers and Callum McGregor with the Scottish Cup after the 1-0 Hampden triumph over Ibrox opposition on May 25.
Happily, Rodgers and his players returned to the same venue in May to claim the Hoops’ third successive title with a runaway 5-0 victory over Derek McInnes’ club.
Coincidentally, McInnes had been the manager of Aberdeen when the Irishman claimed his first Cup as Celtic gaffer when goals from Tom Rogic, James Forrest and Moussa Dembele (pen) gave them a 3-0 victory in the League Cup showpiece at Hampden in November 2016.
In his first spell, Rodgers completed a hat-trick in the same competition when he added wins over Motherwell (2-0) and the Dons (1-0).
It’s been smiles all the way in the Scottish Cup with three consecutive triumphs spread over seven years – Aberdeen (2-1) and Motherwell (2-0) in his first spell.
And Rodgers brought down the curtain on his second coming with a 1-0 victory over Philippe Clement’s Ibrox outfit when Adam Idah proved to be the Scottish Cup matchwinner on the iconic date of May 25.
NOW FOR THE FINAL SAY…Brendan Rodgers acknowledges the fans after Celtic’s runaway 6-0 win over Aberdeen in the lop-sided last-four encounter last month.
Last month saw Aberdeen, at that stage unbeaten, put to the sword when a Daizen Maeda-led whirlwind saw Jimmy Thelin’s team decimated to the tune of 6-0.
The pacy Japanese winger thumped a hat-trick behind the overworked and helpless Dimitar Mitov with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn joining in the glee parade.
Now Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side stand in the way of the Irishman and some more silverware glory.
Don’t bet against Rodgers having the final say – yet again!
