ONE major up-side of having to endure this long lay-off from football is that the Celtic Stars who have pretty much had little to no rest periods for the past three and and a half years, have had a chance to re-charge their own batteries. That could seem the likes of James Forrest, Scott Brown, and Callum McGregor all having a new spring in their steps when play does resume at the beginning of August.

McGregor in particular has been a marathon man in the Celtic side that has won eleven consecutive trophies in a row and still has the 2020 Scottish Cup to come. A win over Aberdeen in the semi-final and the winners of the Edinburgh derby in the final would make that a remarkable dozen.

He’s been speaking to Celtic TV about getting back down to business at Lennoxtown this week and like Odsonne Edouard has already stated this morning, he’s delighted to be back in and around his teammates getting ready for the new season.

“It’s good to get back on the grass and see the white lines and get back on the football pitch, so that’s been great the past couple of days,” McGregor told Celtic TV, as reported by the official Celtic site.

“It just seems to lift your mood straight away when you’re getting up to go to training. So it’s definitely been well-received.

“You’re just so used to being in that routine where you’ve got games every three or four days for a large period of the season, and then when you get to April to the end of May, it goes to one game a week and you feel at that point that you’re getting a rest.

“But to have 10 or 11 weeks off, it’s not been great. It’s nice to have the down-time but, ultimately, you want to be on the pitch playing football and doing what you love.

“Everyone’s delighted to be back in. It’s small steps at the minute, but it’s just good to be back on the grass. It’s going to be an extended pre-season so you’ve got even more time to plan and get your body right, and then when the games come around, we’ll have had a good 10 or 11 weeks pre-season under our belts.

“Everyone will be in good condition and desperate for the games to start. We want to continue the hunger and the more that you win, it just fuels you for more success and you want to keep delivering trophies.

“It’s another big season for the club but the message will stay the same – the next game is the most important, the next training day is an opportunity to get better and improve as a player and as a squad together. So that message will stay very much the same,” Callum said.

“Once you start to get dates for the season and Champions League qualifiers, that’s when it’ll start to heat up in terms of getting a little bit closer. We’re obviously buzzing to get back in and back on the grass, and hopefully in the next few weeks and months, we’ll see that progressing.

“We’re in that mindset of working where the next game is always the most important and you have to prepare properly, regardless of the opponent, regardless of the competition. If you prepare properly, turn up on the day and put in a good performance, then, nine times out of ten, you’ll win the game, and that’s been our motto right the way through these last few years.”

HIGH PRAISE INDEED!

The article preceding this one on The Celtic Star was from Niall J and is titled How John Barnes lost the opportunity for a genuine discussion on unconscious bias. A poster on Celtic Noise forum has just made this remark which I’d like to share.