Callum McGregor – The Senior Partner To Grealish At Notts County

Six years ago, Notts County boasted a midfield duo that most Premiership clubs would desire today. Callum McGregor and Jack Grealish were loaned out to the League 1 club to gain experience, but it was the Scotsman who had the superior football brain and was the senior of the duo.

Crystal Palace hero, Shaun Derry, took charge of the Nottingham club mid-way through the campaign as County looked doomed in their quest to avoid relegation. Derry knew that the pair were destined for great futures and hailed the impact of both in helping the club avoid the drop.

McGregor finished the season as Notts County’s top scorer with 14 goals in 41 games, whilst Grealish scored five in 39. At that time, McGregor was 20 years of age, two years the senior of Grealish and it showed according to Derry, who is now head of the Crystal Palace academy. Derry told the Scottish Sun: “They were very different players and personalities. Jack was a chirpy kid while Callum was much quieter and very respectful towards me.

Being a couple of years older, he also understood the game a little more than Jack did. Callum also had a greater appreciation of the game than Jack did at that time. What Jack liked at training was playing in the mini bounce games we had. But Callum realised the value of the other stuff, the physical exercises and the tactical sessions. He was brilliant to work with. What probably impressed me more than anything was his attitude, especially since he’d moved to a different country and was away from home for the first time.”

The season wasn’t without it’s challenges, but McGregor showed that superb professional attitude for which he has became renowned. “Like most youngsters, he hit a dip in form during the second half of that season and he lost the jersey for a few weeks but he just worked even harder to get back into the team,” Derry said.

The boss also touched on both McGregor and Grealish’s attitudes in terms of giving it their all to help the club. “It meant a lot to me to have such a brilliant and determined young player I could rely on. Some guys go out on loan and they’re not too bothered about what happens to their new club because they know they’ll be going back to their old one.

However, Callum and Jack weren’t like that. They considered themselves Notts County players and they didn’t want a relegation on their CV and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone quite as engaged in avoiding that as Callum was. We’d never have stayed up without them.”

This came as no surprise to Shaun Derry as he had only heard good words about McGregor ahead of becoming County manager. He closed his interview in the following way: “Mick Jones had been number two to Neil Warnock at QPR when I played there and I had a fantastic relationship with him. Mick had also been assistant to Chris Kiwomya at County, who had done the deals to bring Callum and Jack to Meadow Lane. He would call me and go on and on about this fantastic talent they’d unearthed in Scotland and I was glad he was there. I was 35 when I got the job in the November and I had no coaching experience — I’d been playing for Millwall four days earlier.

County were bottom of the table but, fortunately, I got a huge lift from having Callum and Jack there and one of the first things I did was to contact Celtic and extend Callum’s loan deal from January until the end of the season. He impressed me with the way he’d stay behind for hours every day, working to improve himself. One of the players who used to stay with him was Mark Fotheringham, a senior player and another former Celt. Mark looked after him. Yet you could see how the experienced pros respected Callum and Jack for their talent. Between them, they brought the level of training up a notch. Those kinds of youngsters are few and far between.”

About Author

Hailing from an Irish background, I grew up on the English south coast with the good fortune to begin watching Celtic during the Martin O'Neill era. I have written four Celtic books since the age of 19: Our Stories & Our Songs: The Celtic Support, Take Me To Your Paradise: A History Of Celtic-Related Incidents & Events, Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys: Celtic's Founding Fathers, First Season & Early Stars, and The Holy Grounds of Glasgow Celtic: A Guide To Celtic Landmarks & Sites Of Interest. These were previously sold in Waterstones and official Celtic FC stores, and are now available on Amazon.

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