There aren’t many managers that can claim as good a debut season at a club as Brendan Rodgers’ at Celtic – the Northern Irish manager’s unprecedented undefeated domestic treble is an unbelievable achievement, even within the current climate of the Scottish game.
The SPL may not be the force it once was since Celtic’s great rivals Rangers’ demotion to the fourth tier in 2012 but to win all domestic honours and go through an entire league season unbeaten is something no manager has been able to do north of the border ever.
In fact, you would have to go back to Rangers’ 1898-99 season to find the last club in Scotland to go through the league season unbeaten, however, Rangers season only lasted 18 games whilst Celtic’s entire season run has gone 47.
However, given the current climate of Scottish football, the Bhoys achievements are rather understated, thanks to their monopoly on the league title and more importantly Scotland’s only UEFA Champions League qualifying spot, Celtic have had more access to better TV funding Europe’s elite competition provides and therefore can make more substantial investments in the playing squad.
Finishing 30 points ahead of second place Aberdeen was a damning indictment on how poor the level of competition is and it’ll take divine intervention to prevent Celtic’s continued dominance of Scotland.
Whether Rodgers’ is an unquantifiable success or just a decent manager at the best team in an awful league is better measured on how the Glasgow side perform in Europe this year and going forward rather than domestic success.
Wim Jansen (July 1997-May 1998: 1x League Championship, 1x League Cup)
The Dutchman lasted only one season in Glasgow but he went down in Hoops folklore preventing Rangers from surpassing Stein’s record of nine in a row and ending their near decade long monopoly of the league title. He also signed legendary Celtic striker Henrik Larsson, the Swede scored 242 goals in 313 games for the Bhoys.
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Neil Lennon (March 2010-May 2014: 3x League Championship, 2x Scottish Cup)
Lennon may have been Celtic manager during Rangers’ demotion to the fourth tier, but Celtic’s last successful European run was under the former midfielders reign as manager, coming second in his 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group, even recording an unforeseen 2-1 victory against Spanish giants FC Barcelona at Celtic Park.
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Martin O’Neill (June 2000-May 2005: 3x League Championship, 3x Scottish Cup, 1x League Cup, 1x UEFA Cup finalist)
Having worked wonders at Leicester City, O’Neill moved north to a struggling Celtic who under Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes had finished 21 points behind Rangers. In his first season in charge, O’Neill led Celtic to the domestic treble, the first time it had been done in Scotland since 1969 and so nearly won the UEFA Cup in 2003, losing in the final to Jose Mourinho’s Porto 3-2 in extra time. Mourinho’s Porto would win the UEFA Champions League one year later.
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Brendan Rodgers (May 2016- : 1x League Championship, 1x Scottish Cup, 1x League Cup)
He may have only been in the job one season but an undefeated domestic season is an unbelievable start to his tenure. If Rodgers could match the European record of some his predecessors he will surely be higher up the list.
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Willie Maley (April 1879-January 1940: 16x League Championship, 14x Scottish Cup)
The club’s first ever manager, his tenure as the club’s longest-serving manager for 43 years will likely never be matched and his trophy haul may never be matched either. Not only did he win 16 league titles, his Celtic side set a British record unbeaten run in professional football of 62 games between November 1915 and April 1917. Image Source: Twitter
Jock Stein (March 1965-August 1978: 10x League Championship, 8x Scottish Cup, 6x League Cup, 1x European Cup)
Arguably the greatest manager Celtic ever had, Stein not only won nine league titles in a row but the Bhoys became the first British team to win the European Cup under his stewardship, the ‘Lisbon Lions’ as they were known defeating Internazionale 2-1 in the final. What was so impressive about Stein’s European Champions of 1967 was that all but one member of the squad was born within ten miles of Celtic Park. Image Source: Twitter
Rodgers has already become a legend at Celtic Park but he’ll have to go some to match the success of Stein, especially given how hard it is to win the UEFA Champions League right now.
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