WHAT makes a Celtic captain? When Callum McGregor was handed the armband by Ange Postecoglou last summer, succeeding his close friend Scott Brown, even he wouldn’t have been a hundred percent sure he had what it took.
Showing leadership is a given, both through communication and by example. Commanding respect is a must. Being able to unite the dressing room a non-negotiable.
Those were the tangible qualities and skills it was clear McGregor possessed, but the question of whether he would be able to handle such a hefty responsibility would only be answered when he took it on. After his maiden season ended with him hoisting the Premiership trophy aloft, it is fair to say he has shouldered that burden in fine style.
Now, he will give supporters an insight into what it has taken to lead him from the academy to this point in his Celtic career, and what has gone into making him such an effective leader of men, in a book entitled ‘The Making of a Celtic Captain’; an effective use of the uncustomary light schedule Celtic are enjoying at this early point of the season.
After so many years of success at the club, and a few low points too along the way, McGregor has enjoyed looking back over seasons he had so readily consigned to a dark corner of his memory bank, so focused has he been on moving forward in his career.
The overwhelming majority of the recollections he has uncovered have been positive, so those hoping for a no holds barred takedown of teammates or managers past and present may be a little disappointed.
But just because he has finally taken the time to take stock and commit those memories to paper, doesn’t mean he isn’t fired up to write the next chapter.
“This is what happens when I’ve got spare time – I write a book!” McGregor said.
“I haven’t slaughtered anyone, it’s not really my style! I haven’t really had to because when you look back over my time at the club there’s been a lot of success.
“I’d be so focused on moving forward I’d forgotten half the stuff. I don’t tend to look back but when you are doing these things it does force you to a bit and there are overwhelmingly more positive memories than negatives ones.
“That’s all you can hope to do in football. When you see those achievements you know you are on the right track and it just makes you work harder to make sure there are more to come.
“It just make you hungry for more stories to tell.”
As candid as he has attempted to be in his book, McGregor has tempered any hopes of a Celtic ‘All or Nothing’ style documentary of the sort that former teammate Kieran Tierney is currently starring in with Arsenal.
“He’s some man, isn’t he?” he said. “He’s come across really well and it’s good to see him so prominent in the changing room.
“I already knew he would be, but it’s nice to see him coming across so well on the programme. His patter is still half decent, he’s quite lively!
“I’m not sure I’d fancy a fly in the wall job with the cameras up here though!”
As well as rummaging through the recesses of his mind, McGregor - along with his teammates - has been utilising the free weekdays that Celtic have at the moment to reinforce some of manager Postecoglou’s ideas on the training field, and tweak one or two areas in preparation for the Champions League group stage tests that lie ahead.
There was a school of thought a month or so ago that the lack of competitive qualifiers during the summer may in fact have proved something of a hindrance to Celtic in terms of getting them up and running quickly for the season, a theory the team have dispelled with a blistering start to the campaign.
In the long run, McGregor is sure that their schedule being weighted more towards the training ground during this period will also prove beneficial.
“It has been strange but it has been good,” he said. “It’s given us the chance to work properly in training and get some good tactical work in.
“Even though we’re not playing a lot of games, we’re working hard and getting the physical stuff in.
“It prolongs the week and it’s not quite as intense as we are used to – but we know it will ramp up.
“I think you can see the work coming off on the pitch. Every day it’s about making sure the team is cohesive and moving in the right direction with and without the ball.
“It’s given us time to really drill things down before things really kick off, because it won’t be long before it’s a good few months of game-recovery-game. We’ve used this time wisely.
“I think we have more gears to come. The more games we play the more we get match sharpness and we find our rhythm.
“It’s been good so far but there’s definitely more to come. We’re only going to get sharper.”
