Gordon Strachan is immensely proud of the Academy system in place at Celtic - not only does it produce quality young football players it also produces players steeped in the whole ethos of the club, players who are aware of the enormity of the institution that is Celtic. "Both Aiden and Darren have come through the Academy and there have been a few in the past few years," said the manager. "Stephen McManus has come through the Academy and done exceptionally well, while the likes of Shaun Maloney was on the fringes, but went on to establish himself."
"They have an attachment to the club and a desire to succeed here." continued Strachan. "They know the history and they know the feelings and emotions of those who are close to the club, mainly because they are brought up in a Celtic atmosphere. They appreciate the significance of it. Some players enjoy that, for some it proves to be too much for them, and to succeed here it takes a lot of mental strength as well as ability."
"Mental strength is one of the hardest things." expanded the boss "Can you play out there and play with good players? Can you handle the pressure? Can you handle 60,000 people screaming at a bad pass? It is a huge test for them."
"The average age of the team that won the cup the last time was 31," he said. "We have tried to bring in a lot of young players and you saw that in the team on Sunday. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction, a great deal of happiness that the players enjoyed themselves. Everyone of them should be pleased with their performance.
"The whole squad was involved in the build-up for this match" Gordon said. "The guys who were left out and the guys who were injured all helped let the guys who were playing keep a clear mind and know that they had the support of everybody. It was really satisfying. It was a really big game, a cup final and I thought that every one of them coped well with the occasion."
Strachan's line-up and tactics for the cup final surprised many observers, not least those in the Hun dugout, and the boss explained a little of the thinking behind his strategy. "I'd asked Aiden to go out and roam, to play where he felt he could be most effective," said the boss. "I wanted our players to turn up in positions which weren't obvious, because that gives the opposition problems. Aiden did that. He's got fantastic energy, he did really well and got it right. The whole team's performance in extratime was fantastic"
"Their energy was great and everyone in the team has good fitness." added the gaffer "But that energy can stem from a variety of things and one is confidence. I think the way they played, particularly in the latter stages of the game, made them feel good about themselves. It's another little achievement in the history of the club, it's our first win over Rangers in a final for a few years and people remember games like that which is good."