NOT content with breaking a half-century-old record, Celtic now want to put it out of reach for the next 50 years. Sunday’s 4-0 victory over Hearts saw Brendan Rodgers’ side move to 27 domestic matches unbeaten since the start of a season, overtaking the mark set by the Lisbon Lions back in 1966/67.
There are no plans to rest on their laurels, however. Instead there will be new targets to reach, new mini-goals to aim for as Celtic continue their seemingly relentless quest towards the clubs’ first domestic treble since 2001. Starting with this evening’s visit of Aberdeen, the plan is to stretch the undefeated run to such a level that future generations will not be able to get near it.
“What we’re aiming for now is to try and create a record that can never be broken,” said Callum McGregor who scored the first goal in the win over Hearts. “That’s what we’re driving for. It’s good to have targets like that because it gives you an extra edge to your game. But, as professionals, we want to win every game anyway.
“The manager is relentless every day in the way he works and that rubs off on the players. You can see that on the pitch. We go 1-0 up and then 2-0 and end up finishing with four. We don’t even take our foot off the gas in the last 10 minutes. We score two more goals. The manager’s work rate is rubbing off on the boys. That’s why we’ve been so successful. Everyone is driving every day to get better. Every game we seem to be getting better and better.”
McGregor admitted it felt special to better the achievements set by Celtic’s famous European Cup-winning side.
“It was nice to have a part in making history, playing and getting on the scoresheet. I only found out I was playing a couple of minutes before the warm-up finished so then it was all about trying to focus on the game.
“I think everyone was aware of the record but we had to put it to the back of our minds and just make sure we got the right result, knowing we’d break the record if we did. I haven’t spoken to John Clark about it yet but maybe a few of the other lads have. Obviously, it’s a massive achievement and it’s great to even be mentioned in the same breath as the Lisbon Lions.
“They were the most successful team Celtic have ever had and, as a young kid coming through the youth system, you hear everybody talking about them. So for us to go 27 games unbeaten from the start of the season is unbelievable. Maybe in 50 or 60 years people will be talking about the run that we went on. Everyone is working hard every day to get better.”
Next for Celtic is an Aberdeen side who have won their last five games, including a comprehensive 3-0 defeat over Dundee on Friday night.
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