Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that he had to raise standards in training ahead of the Scottish Cup Final clash with Aberdeen on Saturday.
The Scottish giants sealed a domestic treble with a 2-1 victory over Aberdeen at Hampden, but Rodgers admits that he had to cut short training on Thursday because standards ‘were not good enough’.
Rodgers’ side have shown little weakness over the course of the season, going through the entire domestic campaign unbeaten, and winning all available titles bar one – the Champions League.
However, the admission from Rodgers that his side’s preparations for the weekend’s cup tie were far below the required standard, echoes the work and mentality the former Liverpool chief has demanded since arriving at Parkhead.
He told the Daily Record: “We’ve had one bad training session since I’ve been here – and that was on Thursday.
“The players will tell you that I cut it short. The standard, the level and the quality were not good enough for what we demand. Maybe there was something floating around in their minds about how we had won the league.
“Maybe there was a wee celebratory feeling. But the session was cut short. I walked in. That’s not how we work. So we set a standard right at the beginning that has only fallen short in one training session.”
Celtic’s win over Aberdeen on Saturday saw the Hoops earn only their first domestic treble haul since the 2000-01 season under Martin O’Neill.
The Hoops have asserted their dominance on the Scottish game for a number of years, having won six back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles, but they had failed to run rampant across all formats.
But the arrival of Rodgers has proven to be the turning point in Celtic’s quest for domestic treble glory, despite seeing his side lose 1-0 to Gibraltar-based outfit Lincoln Red Imps on his very first game in charge.