Celtic can send us into the summer buzzing with one cup final announcement.

So we come now to the point where we should be celebrating a title and nothing else. And we are. We’re all, in our own way, going to continue celebrating it all the way up to Cup Final day, when we’ll have an even bigger party to plan. I hope.

But we also know that the narrative around the end of the campaign and going into the summer is all going to be about one thing. It’s natural that we’re here, of course, but it’s also unnecessary.

Every single news report I read over the weekend had one subject dominating them: this time next year. Where will we be this time next year? Almost every mainstream outlet expects us to retain the title. They expect us to be making it five in a row. But all the coverage is skewed towards the future of the manager.

As Rodgers’ contract runs down and time runs out to renew it, more and more the debate will be about Rodgers entering his final year, entering his final months, entering his final weeks.

Do clubs have lame duck managers? Is that something that exists in football? If a manager announces he’s going to go at the end of a campaign, does that help or hinder?

You look at examples from south of the border, like when Klopp did it, or when Guardiola did it at Man City. Neither of those situations helped their clubs. It might be a little bit like what happens when a politician announces he’s going to leave office; from the day he makes that announcement, his authority and credibility start to drain away. His power over his colleagues – and, in the case of a manager, his players – starts to recede.

So I understand why a lot of these guys, even if they’ve decided to leave, don’t announce their intentions. But you would think that it would be well known enough behind the scenes at the club. You cannot have a situation under any circumstances where this is allowed to just drag on and on.

One of the things that amazed me – and sort of appalled me – was that when Ange left, it was as if we had no idea that was coming. The whole club reacted like it was a shock, to something that should have been obvious the moment we offered him a new deal and he didn’t want to sign it.

When it comes time to sit down with Rodgers and offer him a new deal, it must be made clear that if he’s not willing to negotiate, if he’s not willing to sign it or even name a set of terms under which he would, then he’s going to go.

At that point, the club should simply accept that fact and start the hunt for the new boss immediately. Without equivocation. Whether we announce that fact in advance or not is entirely up to us, but we certainly have to be prepared for it.

I think Rodgers will stay. I think at some point over the next couple of months, Rodgers will sign an extended contract that keeps him here for three more years. And I think at the end of that, he’ll have seen enough. That means he has stayed for a full five-year term at the club. When he does go, it will be with everyone’s thanks and best wishes. He’ll leave behind an extraordinary legacy – and very big shoes to fill.

I’m under no illusions here, by the way, that just because Rodgers commits himself to a new deal, it will mean all the stuff that swirls about him in the media will stop.

We’ve seen a sterling example of it this past week. Rodgers said, in plain and simple language, that he had no intention of leaving Celtic at the end of this campaign and would be here next season, and that didn’t stop the media from running constant stories linking him to Leeds, to Spurs, and to other clubs. They are going to continue to do that.

But all that matters is that the house is secure.

The media can write what it wants, say what it wants, as long as everyone inside Celtic has the knowledge and understanding that this is where the club is headed, that there is consistency and security in having a couple more years on Rodgers’ deal.

We can’t give this guy everything he wants in football. But we can, if we play it right, keep him at this club for years to come. The Champions League being extended as it has keeps a manager interested longer than ever, and that’s where Rodgers sees achievement. That’s where he wants his record ultimately to be judged.

He says he’s happier at Celtic now than he was the first time. I believe that. I absolutely believe it. And if he’s been given assurances about the summer to come, then why shouldn’t he be happy? Here’s a guy in total control of the world around him, total control of his environment, and that would make anyone happy.

But his future must be sorted out soon, or this is going to be the story of next season. Whatever we’re doing on the pitch, the media is going to constantly put us under pressure off it by bringing this up again and again and again.

The best time to get this done is now, and the best way to announce it is on the day we win the Cup. Win the treble, then offer this morale raiser as the capstone.

We’ll see what happens. We’ll see where this ends up. But I won’t be terribly surprised if our Cup Final triumph – should that happen – is coupled with an announcement that the manager has committed his future to the club for a couple more years. Imagine how big a lift that would give us all going into the summer, and into next season.

Make it happen, Celtic. For once, let’s get ahead of the curve.