Celtic stars on fairway to heaven in Portugal after days of hard graft as very special visit awaits

In the olden days, the chance for some down time during a pre-season trip abroad meant one thing – chaos.

Players would be hitting the town to let their hair down. There would be curfews stretched the limit, players climbing out windows to get back out and managers pacing the hotel corridors to all hours in the morning.

But footballers are a far better behaved lot these days.

Brendan Rodgers gave his Celtic players a few hours peace on Sunday after knocking their pan in for a fortnight and he didn’t need to worry about them charging to the nearest boozer.

It was casual walks around Lisbon and some golf instead. There are a few course bandits in the Hoops dressing room.

Greg Taylor was the shark of this side but him leaving has left the door open for a few others to claim top spot.

The manager isn’t too shabby on the links either. Rodgers is a member at the ultra swanky Loch Lomond but he joked the other day that his clubs are about to be stuck in the garage for about 10 months when the new campaign gets up and running and the games come thick as fast.

There’s been plenty of hard graft done already but the squad could be in for another treat on Monday, with a planned trip to the famed Estadio Nacional planned.

There was no way Celts were going to spend the week training at the Portuguese Football Federation next door and not pop in to see the scene of the club’s greatest ever triumph.

Rodgers might be hoping some of the magic of the place rubs off on his men for the new season.

He’ll also be hoping the sun is out. The chat out here has been constant about the weather – and the fact it’s been better at home than in Portugal.

In Saturday’s bounce game with Estrela, it was actually five degrees cooler in Lisbon than it was