It’s been a different kind of start to the season for Callum McGregor. The Celtic captain is used to running around Europe at this time of year.
But this time the more relaxed schedule has allowed the Hoops playmaker to take a casual stroll down memory lane. McGregor has taken advantage of Celts bypassing the Champions League qualifiers for once – and the rare experience of playing just one match a week – by adding the final touches to his autobiography due to come out in October.
The book will chart his rise from chasing the dream as a kid in Glasgow’s East End to leading Celtic to the title as captain under Ange Postecoglou. There’s plenty to pack in between and while McGregor has enjoyed the chance to reminisce, he admits going over old glories has only inspired him to pen the next chapters in his Parkhead success story.
The 29-year-old Scotland schemer said: “This is what happens when I’ve got spare time – I write a book! I haven’t slaughtered anyone, it’s not really my style. I haven’t really had to because when you look back over my time at the club there’s been a lot of success.
“I’d be so focussed on moving forward I’d forgotten half the stuff. I don’t tend to look back but when you are doing these things it does force you to a bit and there are overwhelmingly more positive memories than negatives ones.
“That’s all you can hope to do in football. When you see those achievements you know you are on the right track and it just makes you work harder to make sure there are more to come. It just make you hungry for more stories to tell.”
McGregor admitted it’s been a strange sensation at the start of the season with only three – victorious – Premiership games under the belt at a stage when usually Celts have packed in enough travelling to make Phileas Fogg feel fuzzy.
Instead, Postecoglou has been able to spend some quality time with his squad on the training ground and his skipper believes the benefit is clear to see already. Celts have started the season looking slick and quick, there are player combinations that have tied rivals in knots and set pieces have been working a treat in both boxes. The Hoops have scored 10 goals in three league games and yet there’s a feeling in the camp they are not fully up to speed.
But McGregor said: “It has been strange but it has been good. It’s given us the chance to work properly in training and get some good tactical work in. Even though we’re not playing a lot fo games, we’re working hard and getting the physical stuff in.
“It prolongs the week and it’s not quite as intense as we are used to – but we know it will ramp up. I think you can see the work coming off on the pitch. Every day it’s about making sure the team is cohesive and moving in the right direction with and without the ball.
“It’s given us time to really drill things down before things really kick off, because it won’t be long before it’s a good few months of game-recovery-game. We’ve used this time wisely.”
It’s not just been training though. Less games has meant more downtime as well and while fitness nut McGregor would run half marathons in his sleep, if given the chance, he’s also took time to catch up with his old Hoops pal Kieran Tierney starring in the new fly-on-the-wall Arsenal documentary on Amazon Prime.
The former Celt has been the star of the show so far with his cutting wit behind the scenes and McGregor has lapped it up – even if he’s doesn’t quite fancy letting the cameras in to Lennoxtown just yet.
He said: “He’s some man, isn’t he? He’s come across really well and it’s good to see him so prominent in the changing room. I already knew he would be, but it’s nice to see him coming across so well on the programme. His patter is still half decent, he’s quite lively! I’m not sure I’d fancy a fly-on-the-the-wall job with the cameras up here though!”
McGregor is more focused on putting on a show at Parkhead on Sunday when Hearts come calling. The Hoops leader reckons the Jambos are going to have to deal with something Celtic are more than used to – coping with a huge league game in between two crunch European ties.
The Jambos are in Zurich tonight for the first leg of their Europa League play-off clash, with the return in Gorgie next week.nFor once, Celtic are the ones who can sit back and see another side having to do the hard yards on the continent before landing straight in to a domestic tussle.
McGregor said: “The play-off games will be huge for them and they have a really important league game in between. It’s like the rolls have been reversed this time. We’ll try to take advantage of that as much as we can by getting the tempo up and we’ll see what their fitness levels are like.”
Hearts no.1 Craig Gordon will know what’s required and McGregor admitted his side will need to be on their game to get past the evergreen former Celtic shot stopper.
The captain said: “Craig will know all about it. He’s a top goalkeeper and I’ve worked with him for many years for club and country. He just keeps showing it and he seems to get better and better year after year.
“He’ll be a big presence for them in Europe and domestically. Craig will use his experience in Europe and we know what he will be like when we are up against him this weekend. We’ll need to be at our best to get past him and get a positive result.”
READ NEXT
