Callum McGregor has been an excellent player for Celtic during his career. But it is his tenure as captain that has revealed a lot about the 29-year-old’s love for the club.
Following on from Scott Brown was never going to be an easy task. Broony’s legacy arguably makes him the best Celtic captain since the legendary Billy McNeill. So McGregor has tough boots to fill.
And hasn’t he just? Taking over the captaincy at one of the most turbulent periods in our recent history meant that McGregor had a huge task to fulfil.
Losing ten in a row to Rangers and ending a season trophyless meant that McGregor (and Ange) were under pressure to deliver success. And fast.
But one thing that was noticeable about McGregor is that he never let the pressure of that expectation show. Not once did McGregor ever go into a media conference and look anything but calm and assured.
Until yesterday. His post-match comments and demeanour, for me, show a different side to the usually mild-mannered Scotland international. You can watch the interview here.
Now I am not for one second saying that the Celtic captain is under pressure. Far from it. But rarely do we see the angry side of the Celtic captain. Rarely do we hear him using such emotive language whenever points are dropped.
Even after the Rangers defeat, McGregor’s post-match comments were still measured, calm and diplomatic. Yesterday we saw him be critical and visibly angry at a performance that he himself said he was ‘really annoyed’ at.
This will please the Celtic fans. We haven’t seen the best of this Celtic team for a number of weeks now. With an important cup final coming up, the supporters will be delighted that they have a captain in the team that will set the expectations and not be afraid to highlight in public when they are fallen short.
Because what we cannot afford is to go into the match with Inverness in June with the same attitudes that we have seen over the last few weeks.
But what we can at least console ourselves with is that with Callum holding that captain’s armband, he will make sure that every single player is fired up and ready to help bring the Scottish Cup back home.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou superbly reminds BBC reporter why Celtic are champions after draw vs St Mirren
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