Callum McGregor

Love this from AJ


You look at guys like Callum McGregor, who could take it easy or coast a little bit,” said the Canadian internationalist. “But he is one of the hardest trainers I’ve ever seen. He puts in tackles all over the place and it’s really cool to see and be part of.


It comes down to the staff as they’ve implemented this idea it’s not just being part of a team challenging for trophies but also wanting that next step, whether it’s domestically or in Europe. You simply can’t have complacency – it can be so dangerous.

“It is not flowers over there. It is tough work every single day.”

 

Everything Celtic skipper Callum McGregor had to say ahead of Celtic taking on Kilmarnock in the League Cup semi-final...

The manager signed a player in your position, how do you view that?

It’s fine. That’s football and he’s coming in to help the group. We want as many good players as we can to push the standard. Ultimately, it will make us a more successful football club and that’s what we want. In modern-day football, teams carry big squads and you’re going to need them with the amount of games. It’s all good. He’s come in, he speaks good English and we are happy to have him on board.

Is your role as captain to keep people happy and does progress in competitions help?

It’s a bit of both. That competitive nature comes out in the players and if you’ve got the jersey and you’re playing well, then you’ll keep it. The players that come in are designed to test you as a group and that competitive edge is always good in football - it keeps you sharp and hungry. We’ve got to use the players we have to keep pushing and trying to improve.


It’s that time of the season when players are thinking of futures, do you ever get involved if people are frustrated and pondering their future?

My job is obviously to listen to the players. If they come to me with a problem then I will try and fix it. That’s in any capacity of the game; football, at the club or in their personal lives. I’m there to help them and I let them know that. I won’t go and actively seek conversations because the players have their own careers and they work for the club. Ultimately they will make their own decision but I’m there to help if they need it.

Is it important to keep on winning trends and retain trophies?

Obviously when the cup competitions come around, you’ve got that desire to win. I don’t think that will ever change in me personally and you’re always hungry for the next one and that’s the ambition of the group. It will be a tough game, it was a tough game last weekend and they’ll make it difficult. We are desperate to win and show everyone how good a team we are. We’ve been preparing well.

How different is Saturday to the league game last weekend?

Anything can happen in any game but especially cup games and they sometimes throw up something different and we’ve got to be prepared. We’re preparing for all eventualities and we have to be ready




How special was last season's League Cup victory?

It was great, I think it was a big moment for the group. A big moment for me personally obviously as well but more importantly a big moment for the group. It solidified all the good work we had been doing since pre-season and once you get a trophy in the bag it kind of solidifies that and keeps everybody on the right track and knowing you are on your way to success. That first bit is important. But last season doesn't mean anything for us now, it's about this season. It's about the next game and we want to show that hunger that we want to be successful again.

What are your thoughts on comparisons with yourself and Scott Brown?

I have been in football long enough to know that it's a ruthless sport and people are just waiting for you to fail. You try and limit that as much as you possibly can. Of course I had to find my own way in the role. Following a very successful captain, you have to be successful. Not because of that, but because you are now the captain and now spearheading the club in that sense on the pitch. That becomes your responsibility so that's something I carry with me every day, I try to push the standards every day in training and try to make sure the group is hungry for success, and when it comes to the big moments then hopefully we can deliver more often than not.

How do you do that and how does that differ from your predecessors?

It probably won't differ too much, it's a club that is dipped in success throughout its history. It was successful before Scott got it and it was successful before I got it. Our job while we are in that role is to continue that success and continue the good work that has been done, continue the values of the club. We want to respect each other every day when we come to work and we want to get better and challenge each other to get better. I think that's where success starts, every day it's good habits, it's turning up to training on time, preparing well, training as hard as you possibly can, trying to improve as a player, and when you get the opportunity at the weekend, you want to show everybody what a good player you are and what a good side you are.

How important is it to win the cups in Scotland?

At big clubs you have to win, and especially in this country. If you are at a big club then you are under pressure to deliver success and every time a trophy comes around you have to win it and, if you don't, it's regarded as a failure. That's the pressure we live with playing at a big club, especially in this country. It's just part and parcel of the game up here.




Thoughts on Derek McInnes' praise for Celtic

It's obviously nice when people speak well about the group. Up to this point he is right, we have been very easy on the eye, we have scored a lot of goals, defensively we have been good, we won two out of the three trophies last season. So it's a nice comparison. I have played in some really good teams that have won a lot of trophies. The one thing that stays constant is the hunger in the group to be successful. You can have good players, score a lot of goals, but you have to have a real desire to win and deliver in the big moments. That's what separates the good teams from the great teams. If we have all those good habits and we have that hunger and desire to win then hopefully when the big moments come around then we can become successful. The demands of winning every trophy and game has been the biggest achievement in the past 18 months because many good and new players have come in and grasped what is expected of them.

Was that difficult to achieve straight away and does it feel natural now that they have that mentality?

I think when we first got together as a group the talk externally was that it was a transition season but nobody was talking about that inside the building we were fully focused on trying to build this team as quickly as we could and let's not kid ourselves if we were not successful in the first season we might not be sitting here. That's the level of scrutiny that is as this club. You have to be successful and you have to win. We knew that when we were building a new team we had to win quickly. That is just part and parcel of it. The guys that came in had to have that hunger and the guys that were trying to prove people wrong and bring that success back to the football club. I think when you bring that altogether alongside good players then hopefully more often than not you will be successful.

Did you take the transition year talk personally Callum as you were the captain and a transition would not be happening on your watch as there is a demand for success and Celtic doesn't do transition years?

Exactly. That was the message within the building and let's not kid ourselves on we don't (do transition years). That's the crux of it and how to get there of course there are many different ways to get there. I believe that if you work hard and give everything every day then you have a better chance of being successful than not. That is my take on it.





Hampden has been good to you this is a venue where you have been pretty successful in your career isn't it even from your youth days?

I have enjoyed a fair bit of success at Hampden but that will not count for much come the weekend. It is always nice to have those career memories and you have a good feeling about coming here. If we don't prepare properly for the game at the weekend and we don't turn up and do all the right things we won't be successful and that is the challenge for us.

Kilmarnock gave you a game for the first 44 minutes last weekend was that a reminder that you cannot take anything for granted this weekend?

Yes, of course. It is quite unique that we play them back-to-back once in the league and once in the cup and we got a feel for them from last week but cup football is always different in that if you don't perform you are out. Everybody knows that. They will come with nothing to lose and we have to be prepared for all the eventualities in the game. If we turn up and show hunger and quality then hopefully we will have enough to progress.

You have played in treble-winning teams before does this squad have a treble in them?

I was waiting on that one. We focus on the next game and the next game is the biggest and that is Saturday.

We have heard how Ange Postecoglou said winning the League Cup last season spurred Celtic on can that help again this season?

It was vital for the group last season and it kept us going. It lets everybody know that you are doing good things at the training ground and we have a similar mindset this year with full preparation for the game at the weekend. If we progress to the final we will look at that when it comes.

How have you taken to giving the team talks and the huddle addresses? Is it second nature to you or are there any signs of nerves when you deliver those?

I feel pretty settled in it now. That comes with experience and the more times you do it all becomes natural. The one thing I always wanted to do with the group was to be authentic. You find your own way of getting information across and that's what I seem to be doing. Hopefully that continues.

 

Was one of the many that doubted his potential as captain but reading interviews like that, you can see why he's doing such a good job in the role. Always been very professional the way he goes about everything but need that little bit more to be a good captain, which he has.

 

What a leader, fine example of a Celtic Man who not only loves the club but leads by example.

 

Celtic not distracted by heavy transfer talk despite imminent deals at club
Callum McGregor has stressed that transfer speculation surrounding key players in the Celtic team won’t deflect Ange Postecoglou’s team from their purpose.



The Parkhead side are seeking to overcome Kilmarnock on Saturday evening to secure a place in the Viaplay Cup final against either Rangers or Aberdeen. While they are heavy favourites to do so, they have been hit by uncertainty in the form of interest in right back Josip Juranovic and striker Giorgos Giakoumakis. The former’s performances for Croatia in the World Cup late last year have seen him linked with a move to Serie A side Monza, among others. Giakoumakis, meanwhile, was most recently reported as being a target for Bordeaux.

Both are expected to be in the squad for the Hampden clash as it stands and are expected to be as focused as any of their team-mates as Celtic seek to reach a second successive League Cup final. According to McGregor, everything else is just “noise” as far as the players themselves are concerned.




“We all understand football,” said the skipper. “There will be speculation, these things will happen. Your job as a football player is to put that to one side and focus on the job at hand. We have a really good bunch of players who are really single minded about their football. The speculation is just noise until anything happens, at which point we will deal with that as a club.

“In terms of players coming in and players going out, that is just everyday football speculation,” he added. “We have to focus on the job, which is delivering success on the pitch.”

 

Callum McGregor has say on Celtic referee calls: 'We probably need a couple of good ones to go for us for that to happen'
Callum McGregor believes Celtic are now due some very favourable referee calls if the old adage about decisions levelling themselves out over the course of a season can be applied to them.


The Parkhead club are preparing for another date with Willie Collum, who has been handed the task of controlling Saturday’s Viaplay Cup semi-final between the holders and Kilmarnock at Hampden. It is less than a fortnight since Collum was at the centre of a controversy after he and referee John Beaton decided against awarding Celtic a penalty for handball against Connor Goldson in the second half of the 2-2 draw against Rangers at Ibrox. Beaton did not give the decision on the pitch in real time and then Collum opted against asking the referee to review this decision after watching replays.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou scoffed at the “mental gymnastics” employed by some to explain why the penalty was not given and the Parkhead club are still fuming about a Jota goal being controversially ruled offside against Motherwell in November following a VAR check with images from a poorly positioned camera angle. Collum was referee on that occasion too.




In light of the way things have gone since the implementation of VAR, Postecoglou has stressed there was “zero chance” of decisions evening themselves out over a season in Celtic’s case. Skipper Callum McGregor agreed with his manager. Speaking at an event at Hampden Park to promote the semi-final, which is being shown on the subscription channel Viaplay, the midfielder said: “We probably need a couple of good ones to go for us for that to happen.”

He added: “I think it’s been pretty inconsistent to say the least. We have probably been on the harsher side of quite a lot of the decisions (compared to) the majority of the league. Of course, it’s a difficult job for the officials. Let’s not make any mistake about that. It is a difficult job. But that’s there to help them. Maybe just a bit of clarification on ‘this is a penalty, this isn’t a penalty’ or ‘how are we going to implement it in certain situations’.”

McGregor remains particularly confused by the handball rule inside the box. “You have to, at all costs, keep your hands by your side when sometimes even that’s not enough,” he said. “It’s difficult for the players but it’s also difficult for the officials as well. The quicker we can get clarity on it and resolve the issue, hopefully you will start to see some consistency in the decisions and then, over time, it will level itself out.”

 

Was about to post something very similar after reading that interview.

A credit to the club.

 

Him talking about all the talk about last season being a transition and the team not having any time for it is brilliant. Shows his mindset and Ange’s mindset. Brilliant.

 

Going over old ground here as well but honestly find it mind boggling both in hindsight and at the time how there was a slightest question over him being captain and his leadership qualities.

@Jappenin' Bitton and @Pennywise not a dig btw, because you’re two of the only * I’ve ever seen admit they had doubts now

 

I can remember saying at the time Paul Lambert and Jackie Mac being two of the best leaders I’ve seen for us, Calmac is a blend of the 3 of them leadership wise. I was so behind it, majorly, had no doubts at all. And he’s surpassed what I expected of him in the role already, and I expected a lot. I’m unashamedly a pure fanboy of Calmac though, I can’t believe he’s shaping up to be with us his full career by the looks of it.

He’s right up there with a lot of great players and great captains.

 

He was the only player to call out our tactics during Lennon’s last season

 

“Tactics”


Honestly, stumbling into something as well matched as Ange and Calmac is sheer luck from us.

 

There were dozens of folk saying “never a captain” on here. Always backed him to be a good leader myself.

 

I said he was never captain material and a hun..

 

I love those we solo runs he does from time to time. One day he's going to just bang one in from that!