'Pre-season training'. Words that are enough to make grown men cry and send professional athletes cowering into corners.

Growing up, I heard all about how a succession of team managers used to flog their players until they were physically sick by running them up the dunes of Gullane Sands.

It notoriously became known as 'Murder Hill' as the likes of Rangers, Hearts, Motherwell and Airdrie players will all testify. Vomiting from exhaustion was commonplace.

It was a tough and oft-times brutal regime but (allegedly) great fun and it certainly works wonders for team spirit and camaraderie.

What a difference a year makes though for Ange Postecoglou and Celtic. Rewind to pre-season last summer and the manager had inherited an absolute shambles.

The club was on the canvas after blowing 10-in-a-row and there were several prized assets with itchy feet desperate to head for the exit door.

You didn't need a punishing and gruelling schedule or runs up and down the dunes of Gullane sands to know then that Celtic and Postecoglou were ill-equipped to cope with what was to come.

The Champions League qualifiers loomed large in July and it was hardly surprising when Celtic succumbed to Danish side FC Midtjylland at the first hurdle.

Postecoglou's hand was forced when he had to play the likes of 17-year-old central defender Dane Murray in defence. Still, it was not the 'catastrophe' that some made it out to be.

In fact, the manager told everybody who would listen that it was merely the start.

The Celtic players' fitness became the focus of attention during his first mic'd up training session and a spiel which has entered folklore and has since gone on to become a club mantra.

“Just get it into your heads: we never stop. We never stop. We’ll stop at half-time and we’ll stop at the end of the game when we celebrate. But during the game, we don’t stop”.

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It is that type of ruthless attitude garnered in pre-season that led Postecoglou's men to win both the Scottish Premiership title and League Cup.

The seeds of redemption after the aborted attempt at Scottish football history were sown last June.

By stark contrast, this summer Celtic do not have to negotiate the Champions League qualifiers having already booked their spot in the group stages by winning the title.

Pre-season may well, like the old days, still see some players vomit during the sessions but 12 months on from when Posteoglou took over the managerial reins the club are very much in rude health.

Central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist have already signed on the dotted line with Argentine full-back Alexandro Bernabei and Portuguese winger Jota set to follow in their footsteps.

Indeed there is a glow about Postecoglou and Celtic as they enter this pre-season and the supporters can't wait for the season to start in earnest.

They will have the honour of unfurling the league flag on Sunday July 31 against Aberdeen. However, no sooner will the season have started than the faithful's eyes will also be diverted and firmly fixed on the Champions League draw on August 25 to see who Celtic are pitted against in the greatest club tournament on earth.

With automatic Champions League group stage football comes greater expectations. That's why this pre-season all the work carried out by Postecoglou and his new first-team coach Harry Kewell will be vital.

Celtic will need to be extremely fit - first and foremost - if they are to go toe-to-toe with some of European football's heavyweights.

Domestic dominance is all well and good but the manager and the Celtic supporters crave success in the biggest sporting arena of them all.

The foundations for the club's assault on that particular tournament will be laid during this pre-season. It has become of paramount importance.

This piece is an extract from today’s Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out at 4pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team. 

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