Callum McGregor

Callum McGregor has hailed his Celtic reunion with Mark Fotheringham, following his side's 3-1 defeat of Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup.

Celtic reunion
The captain spent the 2013/14 season at EFL side Notts County, where he scored 14 goals in 41 appearances, shortly before his first-team breakthrough at Celtic. Also at the club at that time was ex-Celtic player Mark Fotheringham, who has returned to the club as a coach under Martin O'Neill.

"It's been brilliant," said McGregor, on linking up with Fotheringham 12 years on. "As soon as he walked through the door, I spoke to him briefly on Monday night. Then, I saw him at the training ground on Tuesday, and it was all smiles.

"We had an amazing time down the road, and Fozzy was someone who really looked after me in a critical period of my career. So, big smiles, big hugs, and I'm so glad that we can go and deliver on the pitch as well."

Young striker verdict
McGregor scored what would be the winner at the national stadium on Sunday, a long-range effort that got the better of Jack Butland in the Rangers goal.

He was joined in the goalscoring department by Johnny Kenny, who scored in the first half, while young striker Callum Osmand put the seal on Celtic's win on the day, netting his first-ever senior goal in the process.

"It's always an opportunity for every player when they come in," said McGregor on the two strikers' efforts. "They're working so hard to develop and get to the level of the first-team boys.

"Johnny (Kenny) scored two during the week, and you just know, I've been around football a long time, I just knew he would have an impact today. He has taken himself to another level in terms of status now, scoring against Rangers, and he'll be brimming with confidence.

"The same with young Ozzy (Callum Osmand), who's worked so hard. There have been times when he's been out of the squad, but he's a player who trains so hard every day and has a nice finish as well.

"He's just going to keep developing, and strikers with confidence can go and conquer the world."

McGregor continued: "I think it's a big day. In a semi-final, if you win, you get a chance to go to the final. If you don't, it probably just keeps more pressure on what's been a challenging start to the season.

"The slate was cleaned. The performance on Wednesday night was excellent, and then to come and deliver on a big day today shows me how much talent and ambition is in that dressing room."




A full circle Hampden moment?
Sunday's win at Hampden was the first time Celtic had returned to the national stadium since their Scottish Cup final defeat to Aberdeen. Following that match, McGregor was visibly emotional on the pitch, experiencing his first cup final defeat at Celtic via a penalty shootout.

So, was last weekend's Glasgow Derby a full-circle moment? "It's just about winning the game," replied the Celtic skipper. "You get over personal and collective disappointment in time.

"You never fully get over it, obviously, because of what happened that day, but the one thing you can control when you come back is trying to do everything you can to make sure you have a positive experience and the team gets to where they want to be.

"I'm super thankful my teammates were there with me today, and we got through to the final, which is where we want to be."

O'Neill's impact
Over 20 years on from his last Glasgow Derby, O'Neill was victorious, with the interim manager winning two games out of two so far for Celtic.

No stranger to working with legendary club captains, the 73-year-old was full of praise for his skipper after the game, with McGregor returning the favour post-match. "He's been great," he said. "He's someone with huge experience who has been around the block so many times and is a really calm influence.

"He was exceptional again. He asked for intensity from the players, and I think in the first half, you could see we pretty much won every duel, every first ball, and every second ball. We were excellent, so he was a big part of that as well. He's a real calm head and just asked us to go and play, believe in ourselves, and that we'd win the game.

"You want to work with top managers, and he's someone who's been around the block a fair few times. With his experience, he's managed at such a high level. Since he's come in, he's just pumped everybody full of confidence. The players feel good, they want to run and fight, and that's exactly what you need in this game.

"He's been excellent since he came in."

He continued: "It's a collective effort - always has been, and always will be. The staff behind the manager have been so good this week. Just having that continuity of message, training level, everything is all interconnected.

"The manager can't do it on his own; he needs his backroom staff in the same way the players can't do it on their own; they need everybody.

"It's a real collective effort, and that's something I'm super proud of from the last week."

 

Said same in hun thread..

His starting shape and lineup was laughably bad. Ripped to shreds and bullied them..

Then 10, a change from them and us taking foot off a bit against 10 and a slackness creeping in....gave them something to cling on to. Now that's all they have. Could and should've been a high scoring game from us. They had some breakaway chances first half but we genuinely shoulda been outta sight..

Second as well. Off the bar and their keepers leg, right in to him. When does that ever happen. Osmand. Hatate. Had so many chances to run up a big score..

As I said before, I'm glad they're going with this hard done by narrative. I hope they come to us when we have the likes of Johnston back, Maeda fully fit, team more settled after a chaotic week and play that same way. We'll maul that back line..

 

Scored some amount of belters against them. Certified Hunskelper.

 

CalMac not due a testimonial soon?

 

Callum McGregor has seen it all at Celtic over the years, and the highs of last season’s creditable Champions League campaign to their latest Europa League disappointment here in Midtjylland is among the starkest contrasts in terms of the emotional highs and lows he has experienced.

To rub salt into Celtic’s wounds, their already stretched squad will now be extended even further, with Callum Osmand’s dream week turning into something of a nightmare as he picked up a hamstring injury towards the end of the 3-1 loss at the MCH Arena, and Arne Engelsalso waiting to see how severe a hamstring problem of his own might be.


After the tumult of the summer transfer window, the departure of Brendan Rodgers as manager and with their team trailing Hearts by nine points in the Premiership – albeit, with a game in hand – Celtic fans would be forgiven for thinking that a hex has been placed upon their season.

As captain, McGregor must resist such talk, and when asked if he felt the campaign was cursed, he responded with a defiant message to his teammates to rise to the many challenges that are currently being laid down before them.

“I don’t think so,” McGregor said.

“It’s been a difficult start and there’s been a lot thrown at us, but we’re still in all the competitions. It’s only early November, so the challenge is to keep winning and pick up enough points to be where we want to be.

“I actually see it as a challenge, the more that’s thrown at you, can you still be successful and come out the other end?

“That’s where we’re at just now. We’re already stretched with bodies. Young Callum came in at the weekend, scored a great goal, and was on top of the world, now we have to look after him and pick him back up. The squad will 100% be needed for what’s a really busy schedule.

“That’s football, it happens. Loads of clubs around the world are experiencing it with so much football. For a long period, we actually had all our team fit and healthy — that helps you win trophies and be successful.

“The guys who are injured now, like CCV (Cameron Careter-Vickers) and Ali (Johnston), were fit for a long time and played a big part in that success. Inevitably, players get injured — it’s how you deal with it.”

McGregor was hugely disappointed by the way that his side lost three goals on the night in such a short period to an admittedly strong Midtjylland outfit, and he says that the Celtic players have to show more of the character they exhibited in the second half, not only in moments such as those, but also to respond to this latest disappointment on the European stage.

“That six, seven-minute period where we lost the goals, it makes it a really difficult second half,” he said.

“But I thought the players took to their task okay actually. We got in at half-time, regrouped, and tried to get the next goal in the game and just see what happens from there. But it wasn’t an easy night.

“We were playing against a really good, strong, physical team who’ve got maximum points in the group, so we always knew it was going to be tough. But yeah, the sort of three goals in a short space of time killed us a bit.

“You have to take it into context. It’s a relatively new group, big exertion at the weekend, and then to come here against a really strong, physical team whose game plan is to make it difficult for you, throw the ball in the box and make you defend, that’s a learning curve for the players. But we’ll learn from that.

“I liked how we stayed in the game too, nights like this can get away from you quickly. The players took to their task. It’s not a good result, but the second half shows there’s fight there, and the boys are wanting to work and learn.”

The defeat and the nature of it punctured the feelgood factor that had been building around Celtic since the return of legendary manager Martin O’Neill and the wins over Falkirk and Rangers, with McGregor not sugarcoating his response when asked what the evening had taught them.

“That we still have a long way to go, I think that’s obvious,” he said.

“Nothing’s been solved after what was a really good game at the weekend, we know that. You can’t get too up or too down.

“You come away here against a really good side, a good club who know what they’re about. It was always going to be difficult.

“There’s a lot to work on, a lot of growth still left in our team. We know where we are and we know where we want to get to.”

 

Brutal tonight, looked like a wee boy in that midfield.

 

Was superb on Sunday, but players just waltzing past him for fun tonight. I don't fully put that on him though. Midfield had gaps all over the place.

 

Can't go into another European campaign with him as a regular starter, this has to be his last, if the new manager has any idea what he's doing he'll find a physical monster who knows how to tackle and bully opposition as our new No.6