FOR Callum McGregor, the capture of the Premiership last season came with a mixture of pride, joy and a heavy dose of relief. To be a title-winning Celtic captain is a huge honour for the lifelong supporter of the club, but steeped in its traditions as he is, he knows that the demand now will be to go and repeat the feat.
To do so, McGregor is urging his teammates to adopt the same singular focus that they had last season, as the tunnel vision of Ange Postecoglou’s players proved crucial in overhauling Rangers at the top of the table and withstanding the pressure to stay there.
If they look after themselves, and concentrate their energies on improving every day, then the Celtic skipper believes the title will take care of itself.
“That’s the next target,” McGregor said.
“You’ve just got to be as hungry as what you were last year. Show that in your performance, show that in everything you do, the way you carry yourself, the way you perform in training and the standards the group set for each other.
“I’m sure if we give everything that we have and we try to do things the right way then we’ll give ourselves a good chance. That’s all we can do.
“We’re not even looking at anyone else. We’re over here [in Austria], we’re in a remote location and we’re working hard.
“Probably one of our strengths from last year is that we don’t look at anybody else. We only look internally. Every single day when we go on the pitch we give everything to be the best we possibly can be. And the manager always demands that.
“So, we’ve not had any conversations about what other teams are doing. It’s purely based on what this club’s doing and how we can prepare ourselves best for the new season.”
Celtic manager Postecoglou is still looking to add some bodies to his squad in order to help them achieve their goals once more, but McGregor believes the current crop are as capable as any he has had the pleasure of playing with throughout his career.
“I think this squad’s right up there,” he said.
“Some good international players, some good young players, some really good experienced ones that help us a lot.
“So, it’s a good balance, a lot of talent and the attitude in this group is absolutely first class.
“You see the boys in the gym every day after training, doing a bit extra, so the culture’s really, really good.
“And it’s just important we keep that going.”
That culture has been imbedded in short order by Postecoglou, and is immediately evident at their training base here in Austria. When a session finishes, there are very few players heading immediately back to the hotel, with most hanging around to practice penalties, shooting, or do some extra gym work.
In short, it seems a very happy camp, a far cry from the situation that McGregor and his teammates found themselves in at this point in their preparations last summer.
“Last season there was a lot of uncertainty coming back for pre-season training, in terms of what direction the club was going in,” he said.
“Players coming in, trying to recruit a number, while players were leaving as well.
“But now it’s been a lot more settled, we’ve added one or two early which helps the group. And hopefully we can add one or two more just to keep pushing and get some more fresh faces in.
“But this team looks a lot more settled than what it did 12 months ago.
“The culture’s excellent.”
