BRENDAN Rodgers knows that when it comes to assessing his Celtic legacy, it is days like today that will count. The measure of any manager at such a club always comes down to how many trophies he tucked into the cabinet, and the Celtic boss has not been doing too badly on that score.

He goes into the Betfred Cup final against Aberdeen at Hampden this afternoon recognising then that from the supporters’ point of view, the most important thing is simply see the men in green and white hoist the cup above their heads. But making it seven trophies out of seven since taking over at the club won’t be enough for Rodgers. How they win it is just as important to him, with the Northern Irishman gleaning just as much satisfaction as watching players he has helped to flourish shine on the biggest stages our game has to offer.

“[Winning trophies] is what we’ll be judged on at the end of it,” Rodgers said. “That’s never solely been my own measure. It has always been about development of players, development of people, and hopefully creating an environment that allows winning.

“My joy comes from seeing everyone else. It really does. I love seeing people happy. And I think it is because I very quickly move on to the next experience. I ask people to celebrate success, I want them to enjoy it, but I think sometimes when you are the leader you tend to look for the next experience. And very quickly, for some reason, that’s my next thought.

“So, I know that after the game on Sunday, I’ll be flying out to speak to a player on Monday, so there won’t be any big celebration whatever it is, or not. We have to get to work the next day.

“It wouldn’t give me the satisfaction [to win ugly]. I know from time to time you can win and maybe not play so well. I get that. But over the course of time - and I’ve been coaching over 20-odd years now - I take greater joy in seeing the football and the level that we play. It wouldn’t fulfil me, it just wouldn’t, to just be about winning.”

Most managers will tell you that winning itself actually only brings a short spell of relief before they have to worry about the next game, but Rodgers knew early on in his coaching career that he was wired differently to some of his colleagues.

“My first job [at Watford], we had a fantastic result at the time, I remember it. Roberto Martinez’s Swansea. I think they were playing really well at the time, had beaten Fulham in the FA Cup. Then we were playing them in midweek. We won 2-0 at Vicarage Road and everyone was on a high after the game: Malky [Mackay], Dychey [Sean Dyche], Warbs [Mark Warburton] was there, Frank Lampard senior, all on such a high. And I was flat because, yes, we won the game, but it wasn’t how I wanted us to win. And I think that told me really early on in my career as a manager that it’s going to be more than just winning that matters to me.

“It got performance of the week, but, nah, I like my teams to win with a certain identity, while knowing that you can’t do it all the time. There have been games we have had to dig it out, tough it out, so I get all that. [But] I like my teams to play with a certain idea.

"That's what drew me to coaching and that for me is what coaching is: that relationship between the training and the game. And if you can get that fusion, that’s what makes me happy.”

There is more than one reason why the champagne corks won’t be popping if Celtic lift the trophy today though. They have the small matter of a visit to Fir Park on Wednesday to deal with, and Rodgers won’t make the same mistake he did when travelling to Lanarkshire after the last time they beat Aberdeen in the League Cup final, when he allowed his players off the leash a little.

“It’ll be quiet,” he said. “The problem we had the last time was we won the League Cup final then we went a week later and were 2-0 down at half time at Motherwell. We came back and won 4-3.

“We’ll get a period in January where we can reflect on everything if we need to and enjoy it is we can. We’ll go, we want to win, and then we’ve got a game on Wednesday night.

“I think they boys know me well enough now. I treat them like adults, they are not kids with me. I treat them as men and we know when those little periods are. When you are playing so many games, your body is so important. You have to look after it. But let’s get the job done at the weekend and get another trophy.”

While winning may not be everything to Rodgers, has he considered the prospect of losing this afternoon at all?

“We’re only human,” he said. “There could be circumstances outwith our control. As a manager you have to prepare for that. But not too much. You prepare to win.

It will happen at some point, but the players have been and are amazing.

“It’s like when we lost the 69 game. We got to 69, it finished, you congratulate the other team. They win, they deserve to win, brilliant, you just ensure you pick your own team up and get ready to go again. But I haven’t thought of it in that way yet. Our idea is to win.”