Ange Postecoglou knew it was a pointless exercise trying to find a Scott Brown clone to be Celtic captain.
After all, how do you replace a one-off?
Brown’s influence at Parkhead was immeasurable having etched his name into folklore beside the all-time greats.
The manager was well aware of this when he arrived in Glasgow last summer.
But if he was going to lead a revolution at Celtic he still needed a lieutenant in the dressing-room.
Postecoglou could have searched around Europe and beyond to fill Brown’s shoes. But he quickly realised that, in Callum McGregor, he had the perfect candidate already in the building.
Anyone who has ever met Brown and McGregor will appreciate the contrast in character.
While Brown snarled his way around the pitch, carrying and cajoling his team-mates, McGregor has a quiet efficiency about him.
The Scotland midfielder still leads by example – but not in the way Brown did.
And one thing they have in common is a steely resilience and will to win that are prerequisites when you go to an Old Firm club.
Postecoglou had no doubts about where the armband
was going.
And as they prepare for a powderkeg derby against Rangers at Ibrox today that will have a huge bearing on the title race, he will rely
heavily on McGregor again.
At the start of his reign, Celtic were well out of tune.
But with his captain singing from the same hymn sheet at the get-go, the Aussie knew they had a chance of success.
When the club released his Premier Sports Cup Final team-talk on audio last week, he confidently says pre-kick-off: "When Cal goes up to lift the trophy."
That shows the confidence Postecoglou has in McGregor as he told players that if they follow his lead, it will result in silverware.
The Hoops boss said: “Callum and Scott are different. But that was the key for Cal – to be himself.
“That’s why I chose him for the position of captain. The reality of it is that Scott Brown was a one-off. His influence on the squad and the football club came from his personality.
“That’s what great leaders do. They are genuine in being themselves and don’t try to be somebody else.
“Cal didn’t need to try to be like Scott or any other great Celtic captain.
“He just had to be himself and that’s what he has done. He understood that and has grown into the role. That’s why he won the respect of the group. He has done it his own way, with his own personality.
“At the same time, there’s no doubt the players know he is competitive and wants to win. Cal knows what it takes to win at this football club.
“And when you have someone like that you want to follow him. Because you know success lies at the end of it.”
On Postecoglou’s first visit to Ibrox in August, the manager had only taken baby steps towards where he wanted to get to.
He had players in his starting line-up who had no future at Celtic in Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie.
Around that period, McGregor was finding his feet as captain.
But together they’ve evolved and improved – and they will be a completely different proposition in Govan today.
Postecoglou said: “This is Cal’s first season as the leader so, even for him, it was about making sure he imposed himself in the right way.
“In the beginning, when things weren’t running smoothly, we made sure we had a clear understanding and focus about what was important to us.
“If you start trying to impress on the players the pressures of this club just as they’re jumping off planes into the team – well, there was an opportunity there to lose the group.
“It was more about getting through that period and creating resilience.
“We weren’t going to make excuses. We understood and embraced the challenge of playing for this club.
“But at the same time we knew we had to grow into the season.
“You just have to look at the line-up on our first visit to Ibrox. We had players who were literally transferred down south straight after the game.
“We knew they were going but that was the line-up we had to put out that day.
“Again, we didn’t make excuses. We understood that people would measure our progress on results and knew we had to improve that.
“I think Cal and the whole group embraced the fact that it wasn’t going to be a smooth year.
“We just needed to get on with it.”
Getting on with it has seen Celtic gain eight points on champions Rangers since the turn of the year to sit top of the
Premiership table.
They’ve had plenty of top performers with McGregor being one of them.
But if anyone typifies their surge since January it might be Japanese new boy Daizen Maeda.
Not necessarily with a glut of goals or assists. But the frontman’s work-rate, which will be crucial today, embodies everything that Postecoglou wants from his team.
The manager said: “I coached Daizen for a year (at Yokohama Marinos) and knew what I was getting.
“He has this tremendous capacity for work and he does some things that are difficult for a lot of footballers to do - not just from a physical perspective but mentally too. He is forever trying to close down opponents.
“That’s the difference between him and a lot of attacking players and it’s why I was so keen to bring him in.
“Daizen is giving everything I expected and there is more there. He’s the kind of guy who wants to keep improving.
“But the appetite he has for pressuring opponents and the physical capacity he has for that – it’s not easy.”
