BRENDAN Rodgers would be bracketed along with Celtic greats Jock Stein and Martin O'Neill by winning a domestic treble in his first season as manager, according to former Hoops boss Davie Hay.
The Carnlough man's side are unbeaten domestically and will complete the clean sweep if they win the William Hill Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen next month.
Stein completed the treble twice, in 1967 and ’69 - in a hugely successful period during which Celtic won the European Cup and nine successive league titles - and O'Neill achieved the feat in 2001, before taking the club to the Uefa Cup final a couple of years later.
Asked if it would be fair to mention Rodgers in the same breath as Stein and O'Neill should he clean up in Scotland, former Celtic and Scotland player Hay replied: "I would say this early, I can understand that and rightly so.
"If you win the treble - history tells you it is not easy to achieve it. They are close to it. He still has to do it. Aberdeen will give them a game in the final, believe me. They will want to make amends for the League Cup final [defeat to Celtic this season].
"It is not done and dusted yet but, if it were to happen, he goes down in history and I think it would be just the start of a long-term legacy with Brendan in charge, of which 10 in-a-row is part of it.”
Former Rangers winger Willie Henderson, meanwhile, claims £50million is required for new players if the Ibrox club is to compete with Celtic.
The Light Blues were dismissed with ease in last Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park by the Hoops, whose 2-0 win was no reflection of their superiority in a season where they have not lost in five Old Firm meetings.
Former Scotland player Henderson was scathing of Rangers' efforts last weekend and said: "The fans at least expect an enormous effort from players wearing the blue jersey.
"They accept that Celtic are a better team just now, but they shouldn't be a better team with effort and that was disappointing for the fans, who have put up with a lot for a long time.
"If Rangers are going to compete with Celtic, there has to be a huge investment in this club to purchase players who are going to be of a standard who can play for Glasgow Rangers and compete with Celtic.
"£50million, solely for players. It might be an idea for another investor, if there is another investor who could be brought into the club who is interested in putting money into football. It is certainly needed.”
