The Celtic habit Rangers strive for as star makes 'best feeling in the world' admission

Revered American football coach Vince Lombardi once remarked that “winning is a habit”. He viewed it not as “a sometime thing” but “an all the time thing”. In the current era of Scottish football, that’s Celtic. It is their habit. Theirs and theirs only.

The banner unfurled on Sunday afternoon at Hampden Park said as much. “22 trophies in 11 years. We set the standard”. A statement, a fact, a dig at their rivals Rangers who, in the same period, have two trophies. Six if you were to include the second, third and fourth tier titles, as well as a Challenge Cup. Understandably, they are not. It is a habit the supporters have implored Michael Beale and his team to discover.

It is not going to be easy. Not in the slightest if you listen to Greg Taylor. The left-back, who was let go by Rangers as a youngster, picked up his fifth trophy since a move from Kilmarnock. That winning feeling, that habit, is not something he or his team-mates want to lose.

“Just winning a trophy for this club is the best feeling,” he said. “Callum [McGregor] 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.”

Getting stronger

Worryingly for rivals, the message is clear. "I think we are getting stronger as we go on," Taylor said. “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.

"The momentum we have is massive. We just focus on each game as it comes. We know in cup finals and cup games you don’t get a second crack at it, to be honest. So we knew we had to be at it. But equally I think our form has been pretty consistent since the World Cup break. I feel like we’ve been getting stronger and hopefully that can continue.”

Taylor won his fifth trophy since joining Celtic from Kilmarnock. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

It is the nature of Scottish football that with Celtic you get Rangers and vice versa. The rival is the barometer. From the outside they are inseparable and that focus was increased by Fashion Sakala's comments in the build-up to the match, the Ibrox star claiming his side are “much better”. It would have been easy for Celtic and the players to hit back strongly following the words but listening to Taylor and team-mates, it's as if they are completely indifferent to outside noise, an approach which likely filters down from manager Ange Postecoglou, a by-product of that habit.

"I don’t think we are about making points to other teams,” he said. “Rangers are a good opponent. It was a difficult game. We just focus on ourselves and set our own benchmarks in terms of a level of performance.”