Alistair Johnston tells Rangers that Celtic will be stronger next season under 'serial winner' Brendan Rodgers
The right-back has delivered a message to the chasing Premiership back before next season.
Alistair Johnston has warned rivals serial winner Brendan Rodgers will make Celtic even stronger in his second season back in Scotland.
The Hoops ace is celebrating a stunning end to the season after the Parkhead men stepped on the gas to storm to a Premiership and Scottish Cup Double. But Johnston is convinced there is much more to come from the club next term with the gaffer now fully back in business. The Canada star arrived in Glasgow midway through Ange Postecoglou’s second campaign and he could see the side going from strength to strength after some early struggles in his first season.
Johnston is convinced it will be the same for Rodgers with the Irishman having overcome several hurdles on his return to the club before sprinting for the line in sensational style. The 25-year-old said: “He is a serial winner. How he handles the press, how he handles his players, it’s something I have never seen before. He’s so personable.
“He just truly gets it. I think he really understands what it means to be a Celtic manager and I have enjoyed every moment playing for him. I have been lucky in my time here. I’ve had Ange and obviously now Brendan and they’ve both been really special in their own ways.
“You saw it in the first season under Ange. It was a bit stop-start and then in the second year, all of a sudden, it was flying. I have a feeling that is kind of the plan for us as well.”
Johnston admitted the campaign wasn’t all plain sailing but the club knows how to win and thrilling times are ahead domestically and in the new-look bumper Champions League. He said: “Was it an interesting season? Definitely. It’s not linear in any stretch of the imagination. It’s been a bit up and down. Injuries, runs of form, runs of out of form, I guess you could say.
“But, at the end of the day, again, we came into the last couple of months of the season where we were still competing for two trophies and it was in our hands. That is something that with this football club, whenever we are living and breathing and still alive in a competition, we are dangerous.
“We have an experience, just the number of trophies some of these guys, Cal, Jamesy, Joe, have won, you are never really out of it. Obviously, when you get a new manager, there is a bit of a bedding-in period and it takes time. Obviously, injuries didn’t help and things along those lines.
“But we are pretty excited with our group and where we can take this. It is going to come down to a really strong pre-season going into, hopefully, a really strong Champions League campaign in a new format, so that’s exciting as well. Of course, you want to be pushing on all fronts, so we are excited for that.”
