Can Celtic maintain progress?

Martin O'Neill has had a fantastic season

BBC Scotland football correspondent Chick Young reflects on a fantastic season for Celtic and looks forward to following their progress after the summer.

They were singing and dancing in the east end of Glasgow when Celtic tempted Martin O'Neill away from Leicester, but I don't remember anyone whistling "There may be treble ahead".

What the club have achieved is the sailing equivalent of u-turning the Ark Royal in Hogganfield Loch.

Celtic were going nowhere when O'Neill took the tiller, drifting about in a sea of tranquility while Rangers made all the waves.

But the new gaffer has proved that football miracles do happen. And in less than a year.

Of course it is what happens next which is very interesting because the great thing about the beautiful game is that it is a never-ending story and suddenly the champions are victims of their own new-found success.

Next season is bigger to Celtic because if they get it right they could trigger the departure of the Rangers manager

  Chick Young

There will be plenty who will see anything less than a treble as failure.

Brian Quinn, chairman of the plc board, declared on Saturday that the manager would have money to spend on new players this summer but would not be drawn on an amount.

However I got the feeling that Martin shouldn't hold his breath and should aim a little lower than say, Zidane.

Furthermore - and some would say he was only being realistic - he insisted that his club were not on the same planet as Europe's soccer aristocracy such as Real Madrid, Bayern and Juventus.

Fair enough, but if you don't shoot for the stars you sure as hell aren't going into orbit.

I, for one, dream of the day that the Old Firm forget about beating one another and concentrate on the bigger picture...the one that sees them binning pathetic historic rivalries in favour of conquering Europe.

Relationships between the clubs and their fans remain so low that while just about every mascot in the SPL took part in half-time fun at Hampden, one was conspicuous by his absence.

Jackie McNamara set Celtic on the way

Broxy Bear clearly feared that the welcome for him would have been no picnic. Pathetic, isn't it?

In a way, next season is bigger to Celtic than the one they just put to bed because if they get it right they could trigger the departure of a Rangers manager which, in turn, would leave their oldest rivals trailing even further in their wake.

The final itself though was a disappointment. Sure, it wasn't a bad old first half but when Jackie McNamara scored, Hibs were heading for the rocks.

When Larsson scored his second - and great player though he is I was gobsmacked when he was named man-of-the-match because I thought by his standards he was average - all they could do was abandon ship.

And consequently, the Easter Road side too are at a major crossroads.

Latapy has gone. The manager might follow, because West Ham United will be hugely tempting to him.

Henrik Larsson's goals sealed the cup win

He could multiply his wages five or six-fold in one fell swoop. No man should be condemned for falling to that kind of temptation.

I will be astonished if they can afford to make the loan deal of Marc Libbra a more permanent one.

The French striker is hugely talented but I fear that he too will be earning bigger wages away from the Leith area next season.

In fact, by the time August comes around is it impossible that another Frenchman could be in charge?

If McLeish leaves would they give the key to the manager's office to Franck Sauzee?

Ah, you see, the close season is upon us but, while all may seem to be calm, there is much whispered activity.

Football never sleeps...although those of us whose teams did not win the treble are allowed to dream.