With Ange Postecoglou finally set to take training with all Celtic stars present, the Hoops boss should be closing in on his new captain decision.
Postecoglou has spoken about the topic in recent times and stated that it’s his instincts that Scott Brown’s successor will come from within [The Scotsman]. However, as of yet, there’s been no confirmation on who that man will be.
The natural replacement from the outside appears to be Callum McGregor. He would take over the captaincy duties last season when Brown wasn’t playing and came across well in his media duties too. He always put himself out there even when results weren’t up to par. He, along with the rest of the Scotland Celtic contingent, is reportedly set to return to training on Monday [Scottish Sun].
There’s no denying McGregor would be a different kind of leader to Brown. They’re two different kinds of players and two different sets of personalities too. But considering McGregor has come through the club ranks and the longevity he’s had at Parkhead, it’s difficult to look beyond him.
There is always the option for Postecoglou to go out and buy himself a captain. But this seems unlikely given his recent comments. He’s also spoken highly of McGregor as an individual already. He identified Cal as someone he’ll be looking to for leadership [Scottish Sun].
Celtic will need their captain to be confirmed before they kick-off their pre-season matches down in Wales this summer. It isn’t ideal to be going into warm-up matches without an on-field leader selected.
Ange Postecoglou needs to make a quick decision on his next Celtic captain
So I would expect that to be one of Postecoglou’s main goals from Monday when his players come back. He’ll likely hold talks with certain individuals and take a look at what they have to offer in training. But given how quickly Celtic’s matches are coming at them, a swift decision on the captaincy would suit everyone.
Right now, it’s difficult to see who the contenders outside of McGregor would be. Chris Jullien is the first that comes to mind, but he’s out until August at the earliest. Kris Ajer is another who shows leadership skills regularly, but he appears set for the off.
Outside of them, who really is there that could challenge McGregor for the armband?
Of course, that will be Postecoglou’s decision and his alone. He may want different attributes from his captain than what McGregor was. But for the life of me I couldn’t imagine what those may be.
Regardless, this needs confirmed as soon as possible. Expect news on it next week, with our first friendly against Sheffield Wednesday coming up a week today.
In other news, Celtic have 15 days to pull off three big signings.
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