Bobby Petta: Celtic have to take one game at a time on quest for 'phenomenal' treble

Bobby Petta says Celtic have to keep their feet on the ground and take each game as it comes as they aim for another domestic clean sweep.

The Hoops have a commanding lead in the Premiership and are in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, with this season’s League Cup already in the bag.

Brendan Rodgers’ side is now eyeing a record ninth domestic treble, and former winger Petta, who helped bring all three trophies to Celtic Park in 2001, insists it would be a “phenomenal” achievement if they get another over the line.

Celtic have won five trebles in the last eight seasons, including a historic run of four in a row between 2017 and 2020, but the Dutchman, who spent four and a half seasons at Parkhead between 1999 and 2004, says they can’t take anything for granted, particularly in one-off games of semi-finals and finals.

Speaking to STV Sport, he said: “Winning a treble is not easy, to win another one would be phenomenal, but you can only take it one game at a time.

“It’s in Celtic’s sights, of course, but you have to dismiss that and take every game as it comes.

“There are seven games to play in the league, and you have a gap there of 13 points, so if Celtic turn up and play as they should, and as they have done most of the time, then that’s one step forward.

“Then the cup is the cup. Nothing is given to you. On paper, they have the best squad, but you still have to work for it.

“The semi-final is a one-off game, so you have to show up and start well. But these players have played in many of these games now, so it’s nothing new to them, and they will know what to expect.

“They have been very successful and will want to continue that, but you have to take it one game at a time.”

Petta was also impressed by Celtic’s form in the Champions League this season as they qualified for the knockout stages for the first time since 2012 before running German giants Bayern Munich close.

An injury-time goal denied them extra time at the Allianz Arena as they fell to a 2-1 aggregate defeat, but Petta was encouraged by the performances and their League Phase run of three wins, three draws and two defeats from eight games.

He is now urging them not to rest on their laurels and further strengthen the squad in the summer to be in a position for another assault on Europe’s top competition next season.

He continued: “You need to keep building on the success of each season. Players will come in, and players will go. Sometimes, form can go, and you need to put someone else in; there can be injuries, you name it.

“So it’s important to keep the standards up there, and that’s the tricky part for the club and why they will have scouts doing their homework to try and attract the right players in the summer.

“They did extremely well in the Champions League this season; away from home at that level is always difficult but they go to the Allianz Arena and played well but were just really unlucky in the end.

“It’s a learning curve, and having experienced that level of football, they can take that back to domestic football.

“Europe is where you want to be, coming up against top European teams gives you a new motivation and a buzz.

“Then when you come back, no disrespect, but you come up against Ross County or whoever, it is a different vibe, but you have to make sure you are switched on again and forget about the last game.”

The 50-year-old, who shot to prominence with an impressive display in the 6-2 win over Rangers in Martin O’Neill’s first Old Firm game, knows the importance of the derby and feels Celtic fell below their own high standards in the recent 3-2 defeat to Barry Ferguson’s men.

He said: “The first half wasn’t impressive, I think that was noticeable for everyone to see that it wasn’t good enough.

“They came back into it in the second-half, with how they should have started, got it back to 2-2 and the game was there to be won.

“Then what happened at the end kind of killed their momentum, and they conceded in the last few minutes.

“They just didn’t play well from the start, the battles weren’t won, and it was just kind of off in my opinion, particularly down the right-hand side.

“McGregor was a big miss, with the experience that he has.”