Brendan Rodgers Happier Than Ever At Celtic After Securing Title
Brendan Rodgers claimed he had actually never been better at Celtic after leading the group to a fourth consecutive title.
The Hoops clinched a 13th William Hill Premiership crown in 14 seasons with a 5-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice.
It was an 11th trophy for Rodgers during his 2 spells as Celtic manager and he can complete his 3rd treble if his side beat Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final.
The 52-year-old appears to have restored his reputation with the large majority of Celtic fans after leaving mid-season for Leicester in 2019 and he once again repeated he is devoted to serving his three-year contract.
Rodgers agreed it was fair to say he is better than ever in his job and added: "It's been interesting the last few months, people deciding where I was expected to be going and I wasn't pleased.
"But I would say listen to what I say, not what people try to expect my state of mind and what it might be.
Celtic supervisor Brendan Rodgers (Andrew Milligan/PA)
"I stated 150, 200 percent I'll be here for sure next season because we desire to construct again, we wish to grow.
"But what I'll also say, there's very, extremely couple of people that know me and there's even less comprehend me.
"I do not have a representative, so I do not have an agent spinning a story for me or anything like that. So if there's a headline out there, I am informing you, it's a guess.
"But absolutely, I am so, so happy.
"I returned because of the professional obstacle of Celtic, understanding the pressures. My psychological attachment to the club clearly has me here instead of somewhere else. And just the chance to be the best supervisor at Celtic that I can possibly be. And days like this make it really unique."
Rodgers added: "I said minimum I would be here 3 years.
"The huge thing with Celtic, it has to do with having the energy. That's the big thing, and there's great deals of other things of course. As any manager, you need to feel desired, you require to feel valued. You need to feel that you can develop a group, you can establish a club.
"So there's lots of things that enter into it, but I absolutely know that we desire to complete much better than we did in 2015. And then I'll enter into next year incredibly hungry to beat this year, whatever we wind up doing."
Celtic dealt with some early pressure before Ryan Strain's 30th-minute own objective started a flurry of objectives either side of half-time with Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah both hitting doubles to seal the title.
"I know there was a wee bit of chat around, tedious I think the word was of someone, however it's not laborious for me, for the football club," he said.
"If we land at 15 points ahead with fives games left and a plus-42 goal distinction ahead of our closest rival, I'll tell you what, that's not tedious, that's professionalism at its highest level and concentration and performances."
It was not all favorable for Celtic. Jota went off with a knee injury in the first half and was hobbling badly with his leg heavily braced during the celebrations.
"The medical guys are taking a look at whether his meniscus is a bit sore," Rodgers stated. "We'll simply need to assess that. They put it in the brace to safeguard it, but we'll see in the next number of days."
Dundee United supervisor Jim Goodwin regreted the turning point.
"It sounds strange to sit here and say for the opening half an hour I believed we were great, the shape of the team was excellent and we were aggressive with the press, forced Celtic into playing a lot longer than they would normally have actually liked," he stated.
"But the very first goal was a genuine begin the teeth offered it's a bit of misfortune.
"The 2nd one originates from an that we had, a tame effort on goal, however then within five or 6 seconds, with the pace of Celtic on the counter attack, the ball winds up in the back of your web."