WERE it not for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes would now be just a couple of matches away from completing the domestic Treble, something that not even the great Sir Alex Ferguson managed to achieve.

Take Celtic out of the equation and Aberdeen would have won the League Cup, be about to clinch the Premiership and be facing some other side in the Scottish Cup final, with any potential opponent ranked below them in the league.

As it is, Brendan Rodgers is now on course to clinch the domestic treble for Celtic and only McInnes’s Aberdeen stand in their way at Hampden on May 27. There is also the ‘I’ word to contemplate – can Celtic finish the domestic season unbeaten and become the Invincibles, something not even the Lisbon Lions managed?

Even if they fail to stay unbeaten, Celtic have proven the football truism that while one player does not make a team, one manager can make a club, or at least turn it around. Yes he has the biggest resources by far, but Rodgers’ success in transforming Celtic should make him a shoo-in for any manager of the season awards.

Just as Jock Stein did in 1965 and Martin O’Neill in 2000, Rodgers came into Parkhead and ran things his way from the outset. That is one of the keys to his success – Rodgers believed he knew what was right for Celtic and has never been diverted from his path.

He has shown that he can be single-minded – did anyone really think Kris Commons would not play for Celtic this season? – and also be a man manager of a squad of disparate personalities that he has moulded into playing his way, a winning way. He has done all that and still come across as a pleasant and highly articulate guy. By any standards this has been a phenomenal season for Celtic who are unbeaten in any competition since last November when they lost 2-0 to Barcelona. The 7-0 drubbing in the Camp Nou and the failure to make even the Europa League as a result of poor run in the Champions League group stages were the biggest disappointments, but the two draws against Manchester City showed that, on their game, Celtic are a match for England’s finest.

Yet last July the Parkhead club sustained utter humiliation when Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar beat them 1-0 on the Rock. Not a few people wondered how Rodgers was going to build a team after that setback, but he bounced back and he did it his way, bringing in young talent and quality players to augment what was already a fairly useful squad, all the time preaching the virtues of having strength in depth so that there is genuine competition for places in the team. The signings of Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair proved utterly inspired, and the likes of Eboue Kouassi and Kristoffer Ajar will get their turn in future. Rodgers also proved adept at getting players out on loan, with Ryan Christie’s secondment to Aberdeen and Efe Ambrose’s loan to Hibs proving a boon to both the players and their temporary clubs.

It is the improvement he has wrought from players who were already at Parkhead which has been his most impressive achievement. Sadly there is no award for most improved player of the season when the gongs are handed out by players and press in a few weeks, but if there was, the name of Stuart Armstrong would already be on the trophy.

He was by no means a regular starter at the start of the season, but as October turned into November, it was clear that Armstrong was hitting a seam of form, one that has continued until now and which has made him surely a first-choice for Scotland against England on June 10.

The key to the improvement of Armstrong, Patrick Roberts and James Forrest is that Rodgers boosted their confidence. He is also now getting a real turn out of Calum McGregor so that Celtic have an embarrassment of riches in midfield where Nir Bitton has been solid and Scott Brown simply inspirational. Dedryck Boyata’s useful return to central defence means that Rodgers can pick from him, Erik Sviatchenko, and Jozo Simunovic without having to ask Kolo Toure to even sit on the bench. Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney have improved again this season, and Cristian Gamboa and Emilio Izaguirre are not bad players to have as back-up.

Craig Gordon looked to be approaching the end of his career last season but he has been better than ever in 2016/17, and it says everything about Celtic’s quality that last year’s player of the year Leigh Griffiths has had to take his turn behind Dembele in the pecking order. With Dembele likely to be out for a while with his hamstring injury, it’s a real chance for Griffiths to end the season on a high.

Rodgers has achieved Celtic’s improvement with no vast outpouring of cash. He has spent about £7.6 million but banked £3m from the sale of Stefan Scepovic and Stefan Johansen, and even inherited a bit of luck when the kitty was boosted last summer by the ‘sell on’ clause in Victor Wanyama’s contract that saw Celtic bank £1.1m from Southampton’s sale of the Kenyan to Spurs. And yes, a successful manager needs luck, too.

It’s still a huge ask for Celtic to go unbeaten to the end of the season, but if they do so, they will be known forever as Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles, and for once a manager will deserve the honour.