You would have to have allowed yourself a chuckle this week at some of the comments that have emanated from south of the border regarding Celtic’s 63-game unbeaten run.

Joey Barton really ought to know better.

The guy came up here on the back of a pretty sound season at Burnley and flopped. If it was such an easy league then why did we not see Joey set the heather on fire?

Tony Cascarino has been out of it for a long time but, again, he wasn’t a player who looked back in his time in Scotland with any great fondness.

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He is a bit different from Barton who was here only last season but I do wonder when was the last time that Tony watched a Scottish game?

I don’t think any of us would purport to claim that our league is better than the English top flight. We all understand the massive gulf in finances and most of us would appreciate that the standard south of the border is higher.

But that should not detract from the fact that going 63 games without defeat – and winning 56 of them along the way – does not take a bit of doing.

If it didn’t, there wouldn’t have been a 100-year-old record to break.

Last season Bayern Munich beat Arsenal 10-2 on aggregate in the Champions League. That vast gulf was seen not just between Scottish teams and the rest but even a team like Arsenal who have significantly vast resources compared to Celtic.

But the bottom line anyway is that no-one should give the remarks too much credence. You can guarantee that they won’t ruffle any feathers at Celtic and why should they?

This is a team who have been given a singular vision by a manager who is desperate to get every ounce out of his squad. That is why the run has come about.

Without Rodgers at the helm, I don’t think we would have seen it happen.

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The players need to take a massive pat on the back for their part in it but you would have to say that it is a run that has been engineered by Rodgers.

The Celtic manager has imbued a relentlessness and a ruthless aspect to the club and how he has achieved it deserves to be applauded.

We have all seen the cold, wet and windy nights in a tricky away ground when any team can conceivably not turn up. You just get the distinct impression that with Rodgers there that just isn’t going to happen.

I thought early on this season that Celtic would be more than capable of replicating last term’s feat and going through the campaign unbeaten once again. Ironically, the day after that piece came out they sailed as close to the wind as they have with the 2-2 draw against Hibs at Celtic Park.

But I still stand by it.

To me, Rodgers is the kind of guy who will have acknowledged the record with his players and his staff but we have already seen that he is not the type to rest on his laurels.

He’ll have another ambition in mind but ultimately it is not about individual records – it is the bigger picture that he has his sights on.

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There are games against PSG coming up as well as the League Cup final against Motherwell – I think Celtic might be sick of the sight of the Fir Park side by the time December is out – but you can be certain that this is where the Parkhead side will look to kick on now.

And it is not to impress their critics.

It is because they have a manager who preaches about bringing the best to every game, every occasion. It is because he demands a certain style and way of playing purely because he wants to see just where this team can get to.

He too will have enjoyed the benefit of a break. It is an intense job, particularly now with the intensity of the media scrutiny and the volume of games that are played.

He will be back and invigorated for the next block as he looks to carry on what he has started in the opening months of the season.

In that vein, what you have to appreciate is just how many players have improved under his guidance. We have spoken of it often but the very fact that Callum McGregor was favoured over Tom Rogic in the last Champions League game said a lot about the way that he has kicked on and really hit a really top level of late.

It will be a case of more of the same as normal service resumes next week.