The morning after, it all seemed so relaxed and straightforward- double winners thanks to a 3-0 Hampden win over Hibs.
During the build up to the Scottish Cup Final however Hibs had played the underdogs card well- perhaps too well.
This was their moment, 111 years of pain wiped out in a stroke and redemption for the manager and many of the players that had featured in last season’s 5-1 nightmare against Hearts.
With their recent track record at the national stadium not many Celtic fans were overly confident despite back to back 4-0 wins over St Johnstone and Dundee United.
Memories of Kilmarnock, Hearts and St Mirren hadn’t been cleared by a stumbling 4-3 extra-time win over Dundee United the previous month in the semi final of the Scottish Cup.
If cup finals could run to plan yesterday’s was perfectly scripted. The overcast skies cleared and Celtic turned on the style with the dynamic duo of Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes answering anyone that has doubted their ability.
No one went into the match with a greater burden of responsibility than Neil Lennon but afterwards the Celtic boss was able to relax with his place in history assured, alongside Jock Stein and Billy McNeill as double winning players and managers.
“I felt so nervous this morning and all the way through the game really,” Lennon admitted. “It was just the weight of expectation riding on the game.
“We didn’t want to be the team who broke the hoodoo for Hibs as well and have that thrown at us.
“Our form at Hampden has been a bit patchy but the players were excellent and they controlled the game and played with great maturity and scored three very special goals.
“To win the double as a player was great but to win it as a manager is just fantastic.
“It was just all about the day. I don’t know why I felt a little more nervous than normal. It was probably because everybody thought it was a shoo-in or a foregone conclusion but football’s not like that. Hibs had their own huge incentives to win it.
“I enjoyed the end, I enjoyed the celebrations. It’s a huge relief but I’m absolutely thrilled.”
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Another great day to be a Celtic supporter. It just gets better and better. Well done to Lenny, the team and the fans for a great display.
Congratulations to Celtic on winning the double again. Neil Lennon and the players are doing a great job, roll on next season hail hail
The best part is we never needed to cheat to do it!
Just can’t get enough HH
I see that there is not a lot of comments about the gent in the grey suit and pink tie making an obscene guesture behind Scott Brown.