Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes his players’ desire to chase down every target put in front of them is what sets them apart from the rest of the competition.
The Northern Irishman saw his side come from behind to take the three points against Hibernian yesterday in their penultimate home game of the season.
A trip to Pittodrie is next up on Wednesday, before the Premiership trophy is presented at Celtic Park on Saturday, and Rodgers has challenged his men to ensure they maintain their excellent home form and break a long-held record in the process.
‘I’ve been setting many targets for them,’ he said. ‘Of course, going into this block of games, we had items that we wanted to achieve.
‘I think there was a record number of goals at home, which was 62 in a league season, when Martin [O’Neill] was here in 2003/04. So we’re now on 61, with one game to go. So we’ll be hungry to make trophy day special. But I’ve also given them targets to achieve beyond winning the trophies, and so you see the hunger in the team in order to achieve those.’
Martin Boyle opened the scoring for the visitors midway through the first period against the run of play, before two goals in quick succession courtesy of Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah turned the game on its head, with Reo Hatate netting the third after the break.
Rodgers salutes the fans after Celtic came from behind to beat Hibernian
Hatate nets Celtic’s third of the day, taking them to within one goal of matching their home goals record for a season
A delighted Rodgers said: ‘To be a team of dominance, you need to counter-press the game.
‘Against a team like Hibs who are very, very good, you see it so many times when they defend well, like they’ve done, then they break out with speed and pace, and the strikers up front, they can be a real handful.
‘But today, how we pressed the game from the first minute to the end, made me so proud of the team. Just that ethic and mentality to win, and then that gave us the platform to play our football.’
Idah took his tally to 19 in all competitions for the season at the weekend after passing up several chances before finally getting on the scoresheet. The Irish forward hasn’t been short of critics since making a big-money move from Norwich City in the summer, but he insists he takes no notice of his doubters.
When asked if he feels much of his good work goes unnoticed, he replied: ‘Yes, 100 per cent. I work with the analyst and a lot of the staff, and there’s a lot of things I feel I can bring to the game. Some unselfish runs that I make that will create space for other players.
‘A lot of that does go unnoticed, and I get it. Fans aren’t going to be looking at that, they want to see goals.
Idah fires in Celtic’s second goal against Hibs, his 19th of the season
‘It can be frustrating, but at the end of the day if I’m not making runs, if I’m not getting the shots away, I’m not going to score. It’s just about that consistency.’
Hibs manager David Gray, meanwhile, believed the timing of the goals proved pivotal to his side’s undoing.
‘You know when you do get chances here you have to take them, which we did take, to find ourselves 1-0 up in the game,’ he said. ‘I thought the shape was good, the discipline was good within it.
‘And then the goals we lose are poor goals, but also the timing of it as well, so to be 1-0 up with five minutes to go before half-time, to then be 2-1 down before half-time… it was difficult for the players.’
Gray also paid tribute to former Hibs owner, Sir Tom Farmer, who passed away on Friday.
Farmer stepped in to save the club from a hostile takeover in 1990, and remained a majority shareholder for nearly three decades, overseeing two League Cup wins and a famous Scottish Cup triumph in 2016 — with then captain Gray grabbing the famous winner.
‘Really sad news,’ he reflected. ‘He’s not kept particularly well for a wee while now, but for everything he’s done for the football club, saved the club at a time of need, it’s a sad day for everyone involved, and the thoughts are with his family at this time.
‘That was a real privileged moment for myself to be involved with the club on that (Scottish Cup winning) day and I know how much it meant to absolutely everyone, but no more so than him I’m sure.’
