A BHOY FOR THE BIG OCCASIONS
McGregor believes his Old Firm heroics and Champions League credentials boost his case for a Scots call-up against England
THE fact Callum McGregor is yet to book a summer holiday is, he insists, purely down to awaiting details of Celtic’s pre-season plans.
Even so, travel agents should not expect a visit any time soon. The Celtic midfielder would be delighted if a short trip to Glasgow’s south side ended up forming the centre-point of his June schedule.
McGregor’s exquisitely-taken goal in Sunday’s 2-0 Scottish Cup semi-final success over Rangers further heightened his claim for a Scotland call-up when England visit Hampden. Club manager Brendan Rodgers has already made clear his belief that the 23-year-old could thrive at international level. Scott Brown duly echoed those thoughts at the weekend.
The final decision, of course, lies with Gordon Strachan. An admirer of McGregor, he promoted the Glaswegian to the national squad in September 2014, just after his first-team breakthrough at Parkhead. Fluctuating form and fortunes meant his stay was short-lived.
Now, however, McGregor has added Champions League experience and established his big-game credentials through excelling in Old Firm occasions.
He would feel better prepared than before if Strachan was to provide a chance of a first senior cap in the high-stakes showdown with Gareth Southgate’s men on June 10.
‘I think so,’ said McGregor. ‘It was fairly early on in my career that I got the first call.
‘With all the different experiences that I have had, Champions League and big games like on Sunday, I think I would be more prepared to go in and do a job. To have that experience of the big games is only going to help me.
‘I will just need to wait and see what happens. It (a Scotland call-up) would be great if it came but I just need to keep doing what I am doing for Celtic.’
He would hardly feel out of place in dark blue. No fewer than six club colleagues — Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, James Forrest and Leigh Griffiths — started in the win over Slovenia in March that maintained a flickering hope of being involved in the World Cup shakedown. Armstrong was a stand-out on his debut. Last Sunday, he, McGregor and Brown formed an all-Scottish central trio for Celtic.
Could that same combination do something similar against England?
‘Hopefully,’ replied McGregor. ‘We played really well on Sunday and the times that we have played together we have looked good.
‘We have looked a threat and if that is something the (Scotland) manager looks at, then great, but my main priority is to kick on for Celtic and keep doing so well.
‘You saw that in the last international game that there were so many Celtic boys in the squad. That would obviously help me if I was to get the call because there would be so many familiar faces.
‘As a footballer, you want to play at the highest level you can and you don’t get much better than representing your country.
‘As a young boy, you think about growing up and playing for Scotland, so there is obviously a bit of that, but it is up to me to keep working hard and keep trying to push for the squad.’
More goals of the quality of his last one could do the trick. Set up by an excellent Moussa Dembele lay-off, McGregor fluently passed the ball into the corner of the net, wrong-footing Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.
‘I have watched it back a fair few times,’ he grinned. ‘It was nice. I saw it coming, saw the
defender in the way and just tried to bend it round him. I took it so quick.
‘I think the goalkeeper might have been expecting me to take a touch, like the chance in the first couple of minutes when I tried to reverse it back across goal. But I have taken it so quick he couldn’t sort his feet out.
‘Is it the favourite goal of mine? I think so, especially with the occasion and it was great to score against the club’s biggest rivals.’
Another meeting with Rangers approaches on Saturday, the first of five remaining Premiership matches as Celtic pursue an unbeaten league campaign.
For McGregor, it is also a return to an important staging post. Handed a start in the Hogmanay visit to Ibrox, he underlined his worth to Brendan Rodgers in a 2-1 victory.
‘I spoke to the manager the week before and he said how I was part of his plans,’ recalled McGregor.
‘He said he wanted to me to go and kick on and it was a big game for me. He urged me to go and show people I could play.
‘After that game, it gave me the confidence I could play in one of the biggest matches.
‘That was the turning point and it has been in my head ever since to really go and kick on.
‘We now go back there on Saturday and it’s funny how football works sometimes.
‘There are games that stick in your head, so I’ll go back there on Saturday with that good memory.’
Rodgers has recently enthused about McGregor’s contributions, branding him a ‘priceless’ component of the Celtic squad. The admiration is mutual.
‘I’ve read the wee bits he’s been saying and that just gives me more confidence,’ said McGregor (with Rodgers below). ‘It makes a difference.
‘You see a lot of the time that it’s the goalscorers who get the most praise. So for him to look at it from a different perspective, it’s good for me.
‘He’s improved everything about my game. Technically and tactically, I think everyone here has come a long way since the start of the season.
‘I feel I’m learning more every day. It’s then great to put it into practice and see it come together like on Sunday. ‘It gives you massive confidence that what you’re doing is working.’
CELTIC supporters can book a place at a 50th anniversary tribute lunch to the Lisbon Lions on Friday, May 26. To find out more, call 0871 226 1888 (option 4) or email matchdayhospitality@celticfc.co.uk
The big-game experience is only going to help me