Ange Postecoglou coined the phrase We Never Stop but Callum McGregor had copyrighted it long before the Aussie hit these shores and changed everything for Celtic.
The armband strapped to McGregor’s bicep might just be a battery charger as he has powered his way to 20 winners’ medals, 14 wins in 14 cup finals and five Trebles. The midfielder’s stats are as impressive as his medal collection. Fifty-eight appearances for club and country in 2017-18, and since then the figures have read 69, 58, 64, 59 and – if he plays in the two remaining Scotland games this term against Norway and Georgia– McGregor will have racked up another 53 games.
He literally never stops and while McGregor wore the look of a very contented man on Saturday night, he offered an interesting insight into what drives the engine inside him. He said: “I always say that the only thing that’s guaranteed in football is disappointment and you just try to limit how many times you feel disappointed in your career.
“That’s what drives you – so you get days like this and when you do, you want to enjoy them. It’s good [medal tally] and it’s something I’m proud of. You want to be known as a winner.
“When you play football as a young kid, all you want to do is win and I’ve managed to carry that through my career.” And then some.
Yet the 29-year-old from Glasgow’s Easterhouse never loses sight of the fact that his personal achievements would be impossible without those around him. “I don’t think any of it happens if you’re not at a hugely successful football club where winning is the culture,” he added.
“We have managed to build that over the last few years. It’s amazing to be part of that. When you are a young kid and you play football, all you want to do is win. I’m so fortunate and lucky that I’ve managed to play at a club that wins and been part of that success.
“It’s something I’m hugely proud of. It’s been a successful career so far, but you just want more.”
Whether more success comes alongside Postecoglou remains to be seen. The one black cloud for Celtic on a beautiful sunny evening on Saturday as Inverness Caledonian Thistle were beaten 3-1 in the Scottish Cup Final was the increasing belief that this was the Aussie’s swansong.
Postecoglou’s refusal to say he was going nowhere did nothing to stave off the feeling that come the start of next season he will be elsewhere – and McGregor was honest enough to admit that he would be a massive blow.
“He’s a guy who’s super self-confident,” the Hoops captain said. “He’s aware of what being at this football club means. It means bringing success and he’s managed to do it in such an amazing style.
“We understand he will be linked with big jobs, which he has been. But being selfish, we as players and the club want to keep him for as long as we can.
“In football there is always speculation and always people getting linked with other jobs when they are doing a good job.
“It shows that the players have done a good job for him and he has done a great job for the club. It’s always nice to have that compliment, so we celebrated on Saturday after a brilliant season.
“We’ll see what happens and deal with whatever comes our way. But he’s done such an amazing job. The turnaround since he walked in the door has been incredible, probably people didn’t envisage that happening so quickly.
“He has been unbelievable. It was a tough moment when he first came in, with players coming and going off the back of a difficult season. All those things were going on and he was a really strong leader right from the word go. He did his business early and he saw what work had to be done here and he built a togetherness which ensured the players loved the environment.
“The guys he brought in were so good in terms of coming into a new environment and learning quickly, while the guys who were still here made sure we all wanted to work, wanted to be here and give absolutely everything.
“He has brought so much success to the club in such a short space of time. He has turned things around and there is such a togetherness in the group. That starts from him – that’s the message he sends out.
“That has been a building block that has led to this. It has been a progression every week really and I think this group deserves the success it has had and to be Treble winners.
“The competition is getting tougher and tougher every year, and this might have been the toughest it’s been. It’s been a really competitive cup run as well, having to get through against Hearts at Tynecastle and beat Rangers at Hampden.
“We’ve had to come through all the tough tests and have shown great character and played some exciting football on the way. To be honest, I think we’ve deserved it.”
McGregor will have a few days off but the season’s not over for him. Not when his country calls in two weeks’ time for the Euro qualifiers against Norway and Georgia. He said: “I’ve no problem getting myself up for these games after a long season. These are the games you want to be involved in.
“We have put ourselves in a good position after two games and after a few days off, I’ll think about these games when they come around. We’ve got to go again.” Go again? He hasn’t stopped in the first place.
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