Brendan Rodgers has been giving his reaction to Celtic’s dramatic Scottish Cup Final win over Rangers at Hampden on Saturday.
At the end of a tense and nervy 90 minutes, it was striker Adam Idah who popped up to score the crucial goal in a 1-0 victory, sparking scenes of wild celebration in the green and white end of the stadium.
This wasn’t a classic cup final. Celtic were not at their best. However, again, this team showed their mettle and proved they are the best team in Scotland. Rangers haven’t laid a glove on them all season.
The Bhoys have ensured fans can celebrate a league and cup double all summer. At times throughout the campaign that didn’t look to be a likely outcome.
However, the manager and his players stuck to their methods, kept belief in themselves and have answered all the critics in the best way possible.
Brendan Rodgers has his say on Celtic win over Rangers
Speaking to BBC Scotland after the match, Rodgers said: “For the spectators, it was very tense. It’s a game you don’t need to be perfect in, you just need to win and we did that in the end.
“You do think about extra time in the last ten minutes of the game. But we found the energy and desire to keep pushing – thankfully we got the winner.
“Both Bernardo and Idah have made such a valuable contribution throughout the season. All the players, their mentality and professionalism has been unbelievable.
“It’s been a fantastic season to win a double. When you win trophies it becomes an expectation but, you can see today that you never get tired of it. You can’t take away what the Scottish Cup means for this club and the supporters.
“It was a very, very tight game. Rangers came in with a big motivation to get the trophy so we knew there were going to be challenges in the game. It’s all about the defining moments and we were able to get the winning goal.”
Celtic will now look to come back even stronger next season. The club have big resources to strengthen the manager’s squad this summer.
Having now won a double, Rodgers now has the power and credibility to push Celtic on to new heights after an initially awkward return.
The smart money will be on Celtic adding to their trophy haul in a big way again next term. This could be the start of another dominant Rodgers era.