Celtic on course for treble 

©IMAGO

On Saturday Celtic will make history if the Glasgow giants can avoid defeat against Dundee United. A solitary point at Tannadice Park will be enough for Brendan Rodgers’ team to wrap up the Scottish Premiership title race with no less than four games to spare, claiming a 55th league title and the club’s 14th league title in the last 15 seasons. Not only will that league title put Celtic level with cross-city rivals Rangers for the most league titles in Scottish football history, but it will also project manager Rodgers further up the rankings of managers with the most titles in Scottish football. 

Indeed, Saturday’s title win will be Rodgers’ fourth Scottish Premiership trophy, which will stand proudly alongside his three Scottish Cups and four Scottish League Cup wins. Having already won this season’s League Cup in dramatic fashion, beating Rangers in a penalty shout-out after extra time, the Northern Irish tactician could wrap up a historic treble if his team can beat Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup on May 24. In total, this season’s success now means that Rodgers is on the verge of claiming his eleventh trophy in Scottish football and could finish the season with 12 to his name as Celtic manager. And, to no great surprise, only a handful of managers across the rich history of Scottish football can match and even surpass that. 

As we can see in the table above, Rodgers currently sits joint fifth in the Scottish football all-time hall of fame, when it comes to the most league, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup trophies won over the course of more than 130 years of association football. Ahead of winning this season’s league title, the 52-year-old manager sits level with former Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Jock Wallace Jr., who oversaw a remarkable period of success for Rangers during the 1970s. However, once Rodgers wins his fourth Scottish Premiership title, he’ll move above the aforementioned pair into fourth place and could finish the season just five titles behind Scot Symon, who won 17 titles with East Fife and Rangers between 1947 and 1966. This season’s success will also elevate Rodgers to the remarkable status of being Celtic’s most decorated manager since Jock Stein, who coached the Glasgow giants between 1965 and 1978 winning no less than 25 trophies at domestic level – as well as the club’s celebrated European Cup in 1967. 

Despite his evident and largely unrivalled success during his two stints at the club, Rodgers will have to work hard to catch not only Symons in fourth place but also former Rangers manager Walter Smith, who sits in third place with a remarkable 21 titles to his name during his two stints at Ibrox. However, Smith spent a combined 11 years in charge of Rangers, which means Rodgers still has four more seasons to try and match the impressive record set by the Ibrox legend. And if the Celtic manager can continue challenging for domestic doubles and trebles then he may just do exactly that before he finally calls time on his tenure at the Glasgow club.