Celtic star Alistair Johnston warns Rangers over Brendan Rodgers factor

Celtic star Alistar Johnston has warned Rangers that the Hoops will be even stronger next season after beating their biggest rivals to two titles in the season just gone. Brendan Rodgers’ men outran Rangers in the Premiership title race and then narrowly defeated them in the Scottish Cup final.

Johnston was a key player this season, making 42 appearances across all competitions, racking up seven assists along the way. The full-back is a key player for Rodgers, but even he knows competition is only likely to ramp up next season given Rodgers’ desire to win and improve.

“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,” Johnston said of Rodgers to the Daily Record. “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.”

Celtic found themselves trailing Rangers at stages of the season before ultimately pulling it out of the bag and dominating their biggest rivals down the stretch. “Was it an interesting season? Definitely,” Johnston acknowledged. “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.”

Celtic will want to continue their Premiership dominance next season, but there is a real appetite to improve their European performance having struggled on the European stage over recent years. Rodgers is likely to shape his squad for a European tilt next season, with that being the logical next step to domestic dominance.