Around 75 minutes before kick-off tonight Ange Postecoglou’s team for the Glasgow Derby will be made public. As it drops on social media and is shared amongst supporters, there is one-man Celtic fans will be scouring through those eleven names for – Callum McGregor.
That the Celtic captain is even a consideration for tonight seems incredible, given the severity of the facial injury he picked up against Alloa in a brutal Scottish Cup tie, but for a player who rarely misses a minute never mind a game, we probably shouldn’t be surprised.
Even prior to Scott Brown’s departure Callum McGregor was already a leader within the Celtic squad, the decision on captain was only in the balance with the arrival of Ange Postecoglou and the choice lying with a new manager, it was probably Ange’s easiest decision in a season of plenty to make.
Despite a flurry of new signings and the departure of many old teammates, Callum McGregor remained, signed a new contract, took on the captaincy, and despite the weight of the armband and responsibility, has flourished where some may have faded under the burden.
Kyogo Furuhashi has grabbed the goals and Jota the limelight but Callum McGregor has been Celtic’s best player this season on the park and has clearly bonded the new arrivals off it, from a team supposed to be in transition into a side challenging for the title and having already lifted the League Cup.
Tonight, Callum McGregor will have an almighty decision to make. He’ll know he wants to play; he might even know he could get away with it, but he will have to decide if he can play, be effective and ensure his reputation inside the changing room is unaffected by making the right call and one he would have to entrust others to make at some stage over the next few seasons.
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It is likely Callum will have to wear a protective mask tonight, he’ll then be asking, for a player who operates as if he’s wearing wing mirrors, will his peripheral vision be impacted, he’ll have to ask himself if mentally he is ready, right now, to go in for the sort of challenges you expect to be involved in when it comes to a Glasgow Derby midfield battle, and he’ll have to consider the bigger picture, that the season goes beyond tonight and Callum McGregor is a far more important player for all of those games over the course of a season than one solitary Glasgow Derby, however much he wants it.
But when we scour that starting line-up tonight and Callum McGregor’s name is there, or indeed it isn’t, you can be certain the decision taken will be the right one and one agonised over by the Celtic captain. If he says he’s ready, he absolutely will be, if he says he’s not we know it will be a tough decision but the right one when it comes to the bigger picture.
There are some players who would take the risk, go out there for the perceived heroism and just take a gamble. Callum McGregor is not that kind of player. Whatever decision he makes, personal gain or ego will not be a consideration, instead it will be, can he do himself justice, help his teammates or if he can be better placed to do all of those things by taking further time to recover?
When Ange Postecoglou’s team sheet becomes public knowledge, we’ll know two things, if Callum McGregor’s name is on it and secondly, whether it’s there or not that the right decision has been made.
Niall J
