Callum McGregor had that steely-eyed focus that we’ve come to know so well as he sat down with the media this afternoon at Lennoxtown to preview the weekends Glasgow Derby. The big two face each other yet again in the Scottish Cup and the Hoops will be put for revenge after last year’s Semi-final in which we were robbed.
The skipper was his calm self as always and reiterated the centrality of training in the lead up to these big games as thr cornerstone of Angeball. The hard work never stops for the captain or his boss, Ange Postecoglou, who never lets the players have it easy and that makes all the difference when it comes to winning silverware for the supporters.
They say that if you fail to prepare properly, you should prepare to fail when it comes to anything that’s difficult to navigate in life. This consistent level of performance and the continual winning that the Hoops fanbase are enjoying could only be delivered by talented players also pitting in the hard yards on the training pitch. It’s sounds so simple, but it’s so effective and also very true. McGregor has been around the block at 29-years-old and knows what’s required at Celtic Park.
Speaking ahead of our clash at Hampden Park this Sunday, he said: “We just always approach them the same, we know they are tough games. You always prepare as best you can in the week leading up. Of course, anything can happen in these games. There are two good teams with good quality going at each other.
Preparation to that is key, so that when you go on the pitch, you give yourself the best chance of being successful and recently we’ve done that. That continues this week. The build-up has been good and the boys have trained really well. We’re looking at the detail of the game and always in cup games you have to bring a big performance to make sure you go through to the next round.”
Antithetical to what the opposition do in these matches, and concentrate on putting us off our rhythm and flow, the Scotland international has insisted it all about what the Hoops do that is the crucial determinate of how the game goes. He said: “We’re predominantly looking at ourselves in terms of the training week, and what we think we bring to the game as always. That’s number one and then, of course, in the games against theRangers this season they’ve tried probably three or four different systems to try and stop us in each of the games.
“So we’re preparing for each of those scenarios and whatever one we face, then hopefully we’ll have the solution to that come the game and it’s just about trying to find where the space is and how we can beat that press, progress the game forward and try and be dominant in the game which is what we want. That’s the way we always want the game to look. So we’ve done our preparation, we’re looking forward to the game as always, and like I said, in cup games you have to perform on the big stage.”
Paul Gillespie
