Former Hearts and Rangers midfielder Ian Black had some battles with Celtic in the past. Most notably in the 2012 Scottish Cup Semi-Final, where he helped the Tynecastle side defeat the Hoops.
His hard tackling style didn’t often find favour with opposition fans. On this occasion though, Celtic fans might have a reason to agree with Black about something.
Black has named his choices for the 10 best midfielders in Scotland in the Daily Record. Three Celtic players feature – Scott Brown, Ryan Christie, and his number one pick, Callum McGregor.
“He’s the top man”
“He’s the top man for me at the moment. He’s technically good with quick feet, and can do a job for you in a deeper position as well. It’s not easy for young kids to come through and play at Celtic, never mind become one of the main men” Black said about McGregor, as reported by the Daily Record.
McGregor has become incredibly influential at Celtic over the past few seasons. At the moment he is partnering Scott Brown in the middle of the Hoops midfield. However, in the future he could well be the natural successor to Brown as the Hoops captain.
It is interesting that Black picks up on McGregor playing in a ‘deeper’ position. That is not something that gets talked about that often. Perhaps because Celtic don’t often need their midfielders to play in a more defensive position, especially when it comes to domestic games.
Has played more defensively at times in Europe
However, in Europe McGregor often has to play in a more defensive role at times, and this season in particular it has worked a treat for the Hoops.
McGregor has been a key man for the Hoops in the unparalleled run of domestic success the team has had recently. However, he has yet to win the individual accolade many would argue that he deserves to win.
He was nominated as Scotland’s player of the year last season, but team-mate James Forrest won the award. Hopefully if he continues to play as well as he has done in recent years, McGregor will one day be named as Scotland’s player of the year.
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