Brian McClair Backs Celtic for Fourth Straight Premiership Title but Urges Focus on European Progress

Celtic legend Brian McClair has backed his former club to storm to a fourth Scottish Premiership title in a row.

Celtic’s Domestic Dominance

But the former Scotland international believes ambitious Hoops’ boss Brendan Rodgers will be more focused on European improvement after his first season back in charge at Celtic.

The Hoops mustered just one win in the Champions League last season and leaked an alarming 14 goals in six games as they disappointingly crashed out at the group stages.

A 6-0 hammering away to Atletico Madrid was the worst of the results, with defeats also at the hands of Lazio and Feyenoord in a miserable European campaign.

But a fine 2-1 win over Feyenoord in their last group game and a battling 2-2 home draw with Atletico earlier in the campaign gave welcome cause for optimism.

European Ambitions

McClair believes this season Rodgers’ ambitious charges will want to put last year’s disappointing campaign behind them and shine against Europe’s elite.

“I think he wants to build on some of the performances they had in Europe and in European competition last year.”

“I think he wants to see if his players have learnt from some of the situations from last year.”

“They played some really good football against some really good teams, so I think that’s something where Brendan will be very keen to make some improvement.”

“But it also depends on how he sees improvement, whether that’s winning at home and picking something up from tough away games.”

“Either way, it’s certainly an exciting challenge to have for him in that respect.”

UCL Format Changes

McClair, who won the league and cup during a stellar spell at Celtic Park, added: “ I suppose it depends on how much you measure European competition, because this year the (Champions League) format has changed.”

“You have four home games and four away games against eight different opponents.”