Callum McGregor in the running for unwanted minutes stat

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There was frustration from vast swathes of the Celtic support last season when the club posted an article on their website praising Callum McGregor for an unlikely award – playing more minutes of football in season 2018/2019 than any other player.

The club’s heavily worded statement praised the midfielder, listing his close to 6,000 minutes on the pitch and even including some quotes from manager Neil Lennon. Most fans felt this wasn’t an achievement to be proud of. It was nothing against McGregor, more a poor reflection of how heavily Celtic relied on him over the campaign.

They cited the example of injured Kieran Tierney as a man who had been run into the ground by the club and demanded that McGregor’s case was different. It appears that request has fallen on deaf ears.

McGregor is on course to chalk up a similar tally of minutes

Here we are, halfway through the first half of the season, and McGregor is once again in the running for the unwanted stat. The 26-year-old’s appearance in Scotland’s 6-0 win over minnows San Marino was his 23rd appearance for club or country this season.

He’s played over 2,000 minutes already and is second in the ‘most minutes played’ list on transfermarkt.co.uk – only behind Copenhagen defender Victor Nelsson.

This stat is of course skewed by the number of early European matches Celtic play in a season. For example, we have already played ten European games so far this season while the likes of Rennes and Lazio have only played two.

However, that just underlines the point that we can’t afford to rely on McGregor every single week. He should be rested every four or five matches – in home games against lesser opponents in the league. We have a very able deputy in Olivier Ntcham who is itching to get minutes under his belt so it is a wonder that we don’t seem to deploy him more.

One thing’s more sure – McGregor hasn’t looked quite the same player since his lung-busting 2018/2019 season. We’re currently at the risk of doubling that damage this year.