BRENDAN RODGERS dropped the greatest hint yet that he will stay at Celtic for the long-term in the wake of leading the club to a historic sixth Scottish title in a row.

The Northern Irishman claimed there was “no better place” for him at this stage in his career than the Glasgow club, he presently has a rolling one-year contract, as he spoke of this season being only a beginning and his determination to build a legacy at Parkhead.

Celtic’s 5-0 win over Hearts means they have still to lose domestically after 37 games, they sit 25 points above second-place Aberdeen in the Ladbrokes Premiership and, much to the supporters’ joy, 35 ahead of Rangers in third.

The runaway champions have eight league matches and potentially two in the Scottish Cup, they face Rangers later this month in the semi-final, before a treble and possible undefeated campaign is achieved.

Rodgers is loved by the clubs followers but as many of Celtic's best players have moved to England in recent years there has been speculation that the manager, who came within one game of winning the title at Liverpool, would not stay out of the Premier League for too long.

However, within half an hour of Rodgers and his players celebrating with their supporters at Tynecastle, the 44-year-old stressed he was in no hurry to seek a new challenge.

Rodgers said: “I am very content. I’ve only started in management, really. I’ve had five jobs, so I’m thinking at some point I need to just stay calm. I’ve already worked in the [English] Premier League and I cannot think of a better place for me to be at this stage of my life than Glasgow Celtic.

“I’m very comfortable here and sometimes, with that ambition, you have to be careful. You have to really appreciate what you have and I am a bit older and more mature. In the management game, I feel very, very happy here.

“There is not a place I could be in this world right now where I’d be happier in my football life and personal life. So it’s only the start for us and I have a responsibility for the supporters. Being one of them, I know what they think and what they want, and I want to try and bring them as far to that as I possibly can.

“When my time is up, hopefully, I will have left a legacy here that they can smile about and have enjoyed, and then it’ll be over to the next one. Until that moment comes, which hopefully won’t be for a while, I’m very content.”

Rodgers is already planning for next season. The aim is continued domestic success and successive qualification for the Champions League group stages.

He has money to spend this summer, Celtic are in a better financial position than perhaps any time in their history, and the trick for him to now is to repeat the success of last summer’s transfer window when he got just about all his signings right.

Rodgers said: “Is this a starting point for the team? Yeah, that's what I see it as - the beginning of the cycle. It is exciting to see the growth and the development.

“'The beauty of this group of players is that they are only going to get better. Kieran Tierney will get better, Stuart Armstrong will get better. All these guys are working in a way where they are comfortable in what I am asking them to do.

"We will add the squad but, not very many. But all I want to do is add quality to help them and if I can do that then the cycle will continue.

“You have to spend but the club have been great for me. We could have signed a player I wanted to get in the last window for quite a large sum of money. But for me it has to be the right player.

“There is a ceiling on what you can bring into here and sometimes it’s also a player’s perspective. But the beauty and excitement of it is seeing the development in players that were already here.

“The progress you can see clearly from the first game here to this one in their level in the game. It’s all about availability and affordability. We can’t just sign anyone. That’s not realistic. It doesn’t work like that.

“But if the right player becomes available and the affordability is there, then the club will back me as they have done since the first day I walked into Celtic Park."

Rodgers was calmness personified not long after watching his team win the first league title of his managerial career, happy to focus on what was to come rather than what had only just happened.

He said: “It's nice for the supporters, I'm sure they will be in the bars enjoying it. I have to be thinking of tomorrow, of my preparation for Wednesday's game and the semi-final of the cup.

“We have three league games before that. We have ticked off another target, so that's two. We hopefully have two more games in the Scottish Cup, but there is a lot of work to do before that.”