SUGGESTIONS that Tiger Woods would become the first professional golfer ever to complete the Grand Slam if he won the US Masters in 2001 were given short shrift by the Royal and Ancient game’s traditionalists during the build-up to that tournament at Augusta National.
Arnold Palmer, who had invented the concept of the modern slam during an interview with the American sportswriter Bob Drum when he was on a flight to Scotland ahead of the Open at St Andrews in 1960, was one of many who argued the feat had to be accomplished in the same calendar year.
So when Woods, who had lifted the US Open, the Open and the US PGA in 2000, duly eased to a two shot triumph over David Duval in Georgia and took ownership of all four Major titles at the same time his unprecedented achievement was coined The Tiger Slam by scribes.
What, then, should we call Celtic winning every major domestic honour during the past 12 months?
Followers of the Parkhead club have grown so accustomed to completing clean sweeps of silverware during the course of an actual season they are probably not that concerned with coming up with a catchy phrase to mark three-in-a-row.
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It would, though, not be over the top to mark the haul in some way given how unlikely such dominance seemed this time last December. The Brendan Treble? The Rodgers Crown? It is fair to say that 2024 has been The Year of The Brodge in Scottish football.
Brendan Rodgers’ men finished 2023 on a huge high when they defeated Rangers 2-1 in a Premiership game at home and moved eight points clear of their city rivals, who had two games in hand to play, at the top of the table.
However, the preceding months had been far from harmonious in the East End of Glasgow. The 2-0 league defeat which they suffered to Hearts at Parkhead just a fortnight earlier had certainly sparked angry scenes. There were chants of “Sack the board” and “Lawwell, Lawwell get to f***” around the ground and stewards had to move in to protect directors from furious punters.
More turmoil was to follow after the derby win. It seems incredible now, but supporters were incensed when the only new recruits to arrive during the January transfer window were striker Adam Idah and winger Nicolas Kuhn.
In amongst all that, there was the unfortunate situation with Israeli internationalist Liel Abada, who felt unable to play as war raged in the Middle East, as well as the downright bizarre “Goodgirlgate” episode.
He ended a live radio interview with BBC Scotland reporter Jane Lewis with the words “good girl”. Hacks who had dealt regularly with the Northern Irishman over the years all testified that he had a habit of signing off from press conferences with such an off-the cuff utterance amid the ensuing stooshie. But he was accused of “casual sexism” by groups like The Scottish Feminist Network and For Women Scotland. The furore died down, but it was, given everything else he was contending with, the last thing he needed.
It is certainly true that Rodgers has considerably more money to spend than his fellow top flight managers, including his Ibrox counterpart Philippe Clement, but the 2023/24 campaign highlighted, as the 2020/21 season had, that having considerable funds does not always guarantee supremacy.
He had much to overcome last term and he did so in some style. The Premiership was ultimately won at a canter with a resounding 5-0 thrashing of Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in May and the Scottish Cup was added to the trophy cabinet 10 days later following a 1-0 win over Rangers at Hampden.
In the past five months, Celtic have competed with the continent’s elite in Europe and moved to the brink of qualification for the Champions League knockout round play-offs. Their dramatic Premier Sports Cup win over the defending champions earlier this month saw them edge ahead of their age-old adversaries in the all-time trophy table.
They are 12 points clear in the Premiership and look certainties to lift a fourth consecutive Scottish title and move even further in front in 2025.
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Rodgers, who replaced the adored Ange Postecoglou after the Greek-Australian departed for Spurs, silenced those who had branded him “The Rat” when he joined Leicester City in 2019 with what can only be described as an annus mirabilis.
Celtic have lost just two of the 49 games they have played – to Hearts at Tynecastle in the Premiership in March and Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion in Germany in the Champions League in October - in all competitions to date.
Nobody is, as Postecoglou struggles to make his brand of attacking play work in the Premier League down in England, calling for a return to “Angeball” as they eye more of the sort of success which has very much become par for the course.
