To score at Ibrox in front of our fans was something special. It’s better to win there because you have three quarters of the crowd hating you
SAYS CALLUM McGREGOR
CALLUM McGregor’s Old Firm journey has carried him from excited ball boy to cool-headed creator of career-defining moments. The delight he takes in that progression is well justified.
Scoring in front of the Celtic fans in last season’s 5-1 win at Ibrox was a feeling of almost unrivalled joy for the 24-year-old midfielder.
That epic afternoon for all associated with the Parkhead club was just one of several big occasions under Brendan Rodgers, at home and in Europe, in which McGregor has delivered a goal. His track record suggests a starting inclusion when Celtic return to G51 tomorrow lunchtime.
McGregor certainly doesn’t require any lessons in the significance of the visit. With Celtic currently six points clear with a game in hand, a fourth successive victory at Ibrox would be a major step towards retaining the Premiership crown.
Defeat, however, would represent a huge psychological lift for Rangers and create the prospect of a genuine title race.
The circumstances make it one of the more demanding derbies of McGregor’s story. It’s just as well, then, that he already has a fair few chapters to flick through.
A schoolboy signing for Celtic, his mind travels back to a 2-0 win at Parkhead in 2006 when pondering his earliest Old Firm experience.
‘I remember being a ball boy at the game when Thomas Gravesen scored against Rangers,’ recalled McGregor.
‘That’s my earliest memory of being at one. I was up the other end when he scored but I think I ran the full length of the pitch celebrating! I wasn’t in front of the Rangers fans, though, so it was okay.
‘As a ball boy, it was just an unbelievable atmosphere to be part of. You can feel all the emotion of the game and I remember as a kid seeing the crowd celebrating the goals.
‘It was great to watch, but to then go from being a ball boy to playing in the game is something I am really proud of.’
THE intensity of these occasions is part of his upbringing. As a Glasgow boy, it still envelops him once the actual business of the football has concluded.
‘If you win and score, then everything goes mad,’ he grinned. ‘Everybody is talking about it, your mates and family are buzzing and it’s a great feeling.
‘It gives the Celtic fans the bragging rights and everything that comes with it.
‘You want to do well to get that feeling of elation after it. That’s why, when the games come about, there is an extra feeling at training as you are all trying to get in the team.
‘The goal I scored at Ibrox is right up there with the best of my Celtic career. It was a great day. I’d scored the week before in the semi-final against Rangers.
‘But to score at Ibrox, right in front of the Celtic fans, was something special. It is better to win at Ibrox because you have three quarters of the stadium hating you.
‘But we have had good results there recently and it’s been a good place for us to go. Hopefully we can continue that on Sunday.’
The Scotland cap recognises the recent change in Rangers. January signings Greg Docherty and Jamie Murphy have delivered two more boyhood fans into their squad as Graeme Murty creates a far stronger British core.
With Kieran Tierney and James Forrest two other Celtic youth products all but certain to feature, there is almost a throwback element to this derby match-up. The difference, McGregor argues, is that the Parkhead contingent have already been over the course.
‘Rangers have brought in more Scottish boys and they will know exactly what it’s about,’ he added.
‘That will help them because they will know what it means to win. That gives them an advantage but we have boys in our team who are exactly the same.
‘We have been through the derby experience but for some of them it’s their first RangersCeltic match.
‘It will be interesting to see how they handle it. It’s probably the most unforgiving fixture you can play in.
‘If you have had a bad game or cause a goal, then it’s hard to come back from. It’s important that you do well and give your all for the cause.’
Rangers have understandably grown in confidence on the back of scoring 23 goals during six successive wins.
Murty also revealed his players had cheered being drawn against Celtic in the Scottish Cup, creating a talking point for the build-up to this weekend’s league meeting.
‘We are six points clear but it’s probably the first they have fancied themselves,’ said McGregor.
‘They are making noise about it as well. They are putting a wee bit extra pressure on themselves to go and do well in the game.
‘But it’s about us as a group. We have experienced a lot in the last 18 months and have a strong squad. We can handle everything that’s going on and, if we prepare properly, I’m sure we will be okay.
‘We have heard about the cheering but we don’t need to talk about it. We just focus on what we want to do on Sunday.
‘We zone out from the noise and everything that is going on in the background. What was my reaction to the draw? Semi-final last year. Get another goal.’
Inevitably, what happens tomorrow will influence the narrative for that Hampden meeting on April 15. For now, though, all attention will be on Ibrox.
‘As a Celtic player, you just need to stay calm and block out everything when you are driving up to the stadium,’ insisted McGregor.
‘There are people shouting stuff when you come off the bus but, by that point, you are so focused on the game you don’t take any of it in.
‘The dressing-rooms are right on the road, too, but we have the music blaring to drown that out. It’s about staying focused. Calm heads.
‘We are there to play football so you don’t want to get caught up in the emotion. I have been to Ibrox a few times now and, as you get older, you stay calm. We know exactly what we are going into and that experience can only help you.’