CALLUM McGREGOR will be the first to tell you that he’s merely keeping Scott Brown’s place warm in the midfield holding role at Celtic and the Scotland star doesn’t fancy telling the skipper that he’s lost his place in the side – for fear of the consequences!
“I think he would just smash me in training if I said that!
“That would be me finished,” McGregor joked.
“Of course I expect Broony to come back in. He’s been a massive player for us, and he has been for a number of years for Celtic.
“You can see how important he has been since the gaffer came in, he seems to be that real base for the team to allow us to come and play.
“When he comes back you fully expect him to go back in and have the same impact that he’s had for eight or nine years at Celtic.”
Tonight expect McGregor to play in that position against Rosenborg and to see Scott Brown on the bench. When the skipper does return to the side – possibly on Sunday for the Betfred Cup Final against Aberdeen at Hampden – McGregor will simply move up the park to play wide left or even in the Number 10 role.
He has become too important to Brendan Rodgers to leave out of the starting eleven. McGregor is flattered by the the well deserved praise he has received since dropping back into Broony’s position over the last month or so.
“For people to even mention that after just five or six games in there, you’ve got to take that as a compliment,” he said to the media.
“For me, I just need to try to take the confidence from that to keep playing
well, so that even when Broony does come back in, you keep that same confidence level to go and kick on again.
“The team has been doing well, scoring a lot of goals and playing good football.
“Whatever the manager decides to do, that’s completely up to him.
“When Broony comes back in, hopefully I’ll just slide forward one again and that will be great.
“We all know now that the squad is so important. Over the last two and a half years the manager has been big on everyone in the squad playing a part, and I think that’s why we’ve been so successful.
“It’s not a case of not being in one week and that’s you out, and you aren’t getting back in.
“That’s been the real strength of the group, we have so many players fighting for positions, and ultimately that drives the standard up.
“With Ryan Christie coming in and doing so well, that has added to that mix of five midfield players that could all play.
“With everybody back and everybody on form, it’s a good headache for the manager.”
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— The Celtic Star Magazine (@CelticStarMag) November 28, 2018
Also on The Celtic Star today…
Brendan, you’re having a laugh! We want wins for Celtic and Villarreal…See HERE.
‘The two of them are top-class,’ Rodgers outlines case for the defence…See HERE.
Celtic’s League Cup Wins, No.11: Tommy Johnson’s Groucho Marx impersonation…See HERE.
Jim Craig – Celtic play in the Unemployment Cup…See HERE.
