Stiliyan Petrov predicts back-to-back trebles for Celtic

As he prepares to make his debut in the William Hill Scottish Cup against Albion Rovers on Sunday, few would bet against Brendan Rodgers completing a clean sweep of domestic honours in his inaugural season at Parkhead.
Stiliyan Petrov is hoping for a stronger Rangers to give Celtic a sterner challenge.Stiliyan Petrov is hoping for a stronger Rangers to give Celtic a sterner challenge.
Stiliyan Petrov is hoping for a stronger Rangers to give Celtic a sterner challenge.

Celtic have already claimed the Betfred Cup and the champions elect will move 22 points clear of second-placed Rangers (after 21 fixtures) should they win their game in hand at home to St Johnstone a week tomorrow.

Martin O’Neill, in 2001, was the last Celtic manager to achieve the feat, also in his first season at the club. The late Jock Stein, in 1967 and 1969, was the first.

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Rangers’ Jock Wallace is the only other man to have matched Stein (in 1976 and 1978) while Bill Struth (1949), Scot Symon (1964), Walter Smith (1993), Dick Advocaat (1999) and Alex McLeish (2003) also claimed a treble for the Ibrox club.

However, former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov argues that Rodgers will make Scottish football history by winning back-to-back trebles and the Bulgarian believes that, such is the gulf between Celtic and the rest, that the Irishman could pick up all the silverware available for the foreseeable future.

“I’d say it’s a great opportunity for Celtic to do it,” he said. “If Rangers don’t regroup and don’t get better and don’t start buying, which I think will be difficult to do given where they have come from and their financial difficulties, then there is a big potential for Celtic to win the treble for the next couple of years.

“But I hope I’m wrong and Rangers come back to push Celtic. With the money that Celtic have got, if Rangers come back and push them and make it harder, they will need to go and spend again and then they will become even more powerful.

“That would be good because Celtic are way too strong for Scottish football right now. They have top players with power and pace and they will rule Scotland for years to come.”

Rangers are the only club with the potential to generate the revenue required to launch a credible challenge but they have been hamstrung by a miserly retail deal and their inability to raise money through a share issue due to Dave King’s inability to have the club relisted on the Stock Exchange. They also do not currently enjoy a credit facility from a bank.

For that reason, Petrov does not foresee them being able to end Celtic’s domestic hegemony in the next few years.

“Not at the moment,” he said. “Obviously, Celtic need Rangers but Rangers have shown they are off the pace, big time.

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“I appreciate a lot of what they have done. They have come from a very difficult position and having them back in the league is great.

“I hope they get better and better because these two teams need each other, need to push each other.

“What I saw in the last game was a big gap. We had Rangers who tried for 25-30 minutes to give Celtic a game. But after that it was men against boys, Celtic were too strong, too powerful, too quick.

“No-one else will push Celtic, not Aberdeen or Hearts, anyone. No-one will get close.”

Petrov also pointed out that, having come so close to winning the Premier League title with Liverpool only to fall at the final hurdle, Rodgers , pictured left, will ensure that complacency does not creep in during the conclusion to this campaign.

“He will definitely do that and he knows how important it is to concentrate,” he said. “Now that they’ve got a very comfortable lead, he’ll want to finish this league as quickly as he can so he can concentrate on the cup. Coming in and doing the treble in his first season would be history, and in the back of his mind he wants that. Every manager wants to do that.

“The passion and the love he has for the club will mean that he wants to be successful, so he’ll definitely want to finish the league as quickly as possible and get that treble.

“I’m impressed with the way they are playing. They are playing with a smile on their faces, they are playing with flair, they are scoring goals and they are winning games.

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“The fans are back again. If you remember a season or two ago the seats were empty and there wasn’t even 25 or 30,000 there.

“Now it’s full and people want to come back, and that’s what you want to see.”