THE scale of Celtic’s dominance over Scottish football over the last decade or more was writ large – literally, and painfully for anyone of a Rangers disposition – in the scenes of jubilation behind the east goal at Hampden on Sunday.
In response to a protest banner produced by Rangers fans at Livingston a week prior that implored their club to up their game having won just two major domestic honours in 11 years, the Celtic fans unfurled one of their own, reading: ‘22 trophies in 11 years, we set the standard’.
Judging by those wild scenes, as full-blown fireworks somehow made it past a security detail at the national stadium to whom many a fruit shoot has fallen afoul in the past, those Celtic supporters certainly haven’t become jaded by the steady stream of silverware that has flowed into their trophy cabinet over that time.
Worryingly for Rangers and their other domestic rivals, it appears that not even maintaining his perfect personal final record with an 11th consecutive win has diminished Celtic captain Callum McGregor’s appetite for more, a point he hammered home to his teammates in the midst of their on-field celebrations.
As teammate Greg Taylor revealed, his skipper won’t allow complacency to creep in or to threaten that dominance, not that anyone in green and white is getting sick of lifting trophies in any case.
“Just winning a trophy for this club is the best feeling,” Taylor said.
“Callum made a good point on the pitch – you don’t get tired of it because it’s the best feeling in the world.
“Winning trophies, it’s what the club demands. The support on Sunday, I thought they were outstanding. They deserved it.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it, to be honest. It’s such a difficult thing to do. People don’t realise that. We’re fortunate that we’re at a club that you get the chance most years to compete. But it’s getting that over the line…
“We are in a very fortunate position. Everyone in that changing room realises that.
“Complacency is the one thing you can’t label this group of players of being. We treat every game the same. We have always got the same belief that we can play our football.
“Equally we have got the same respect for all our opponents. That won’t be any different come Sunday [at St Mirren].
“We’ll enjoy this because winning trophies isn’t easy, so we deserve to enjoy this success.”
The Celtic fans may well have made their point at the weekend, but Taylor didn't feel it was necessary for the players to do the same away from the field of play, despite bullish soundbites from the likes of Rangers forward Fashion Sakala giving them ample reason to revel in rubbing their rivals’ noses in their victory.
“I don’t think we are about making points to other teams,” he said.
“Rangers are as good opponent. It was a difficult game.
“We just focus us on ourselves and set our own benchmarks in terms of a level of performance. Hopefully we can continue to do that as the rest of the season goes on.
“I felt we deserved to win it. In the first half we had good control of the match. We were the dominant team.
“When we got the second goal, after that we maybe got a wee bit slack in our play and Rangers obviously came back into the game.
“At 2-1 in a Cup Final, it’s inevitable that you feel as if you are holding on a little bit. But we did that, and we could have scored a few more.
“We stood up to the challenge in that spell. They play a lot of direct balls, they fight for everything and they have got strong and quick players at the top end.
“So, we knew it wouldn’t be easy. There are always going to be points in the game against a good opponent where they have spells but we’re just glad that we played our football and come out of it with the trophy.”
And so, the Celtic bandwagon rolls on. The last domestic rival to manage to put even as much as a twig into their spokes was their opponents this coming Sunday, as they return to the scene of their only league defeat back in September of last year.
Another loss would hardly constitute a sign that the wheels could come off, mind you, but Taylor is determined not to allow another slip in Paisley upset their impetus.
“The momentum we have is massive,” he said.
“I think our form has been pretty consistent since the World Cup break. I think we are getting stronger as we go on. We’re learning the manager’s philosophy better and better and hopefully that can continue.
“We’ve brought in players in January who are contributing massively. Hopefully that can continue.”
