PASS MARKS FOR MAESTRO ALLAN
Hibs’ playmaker did not make grade at Celtic but McGregor is all too aware of threat he’ll pose today
IN the time Scott Allan was contracted to Celtic, Callum McGregor played 192 games for the club. He won four league titles, three League Cups, three Scottish Cups, scoring 31 goals, including strikes against Rangers, Zenit St Petersburg, Bayern Munich and Ajax.
It goes without saying that McGregor’s consistency, production and achievement dwarfed the impact made by Allan, whose 17 Celtic appearances all came in his first season under Ronny Deila.
What Scotland international and Leicester City target McGregor can’t be sure about, however, is if — in those four seasons — he ever managed to make a disguised, defence-splitting pass quite like Allan can.
For all the inconsistencies and frustrations surrounding Hibernian’s playmaker, McGregor acknowledges that one flash of his former team-mate’s mercurial talent could well be enough to unhinge Celtic at Parkhead this afternoon.
The reminder arrived as recently as last weekend, McGregor noting from the highlights of Hibernian’s win over Aberdeen how Allan expertly picked a hole through the Dons defence to lace in Martin Boyle for the kill.
‘I just think Scotty is one of the best I’ve seen for that killer pass,’ declared McGregor. ‘That is the hardest bit in the game, to try to break down teams.
‘We find it a lot, where you need that quality of final pass — and Scotty has definitely got that. You can see the number of times this season where he has played it.
‘He has made some unbelievable passes. You see the pass he produced last weekend?
‘He has this ability to reverse it from just about anywhere on the pitch. He would do things in training where you think: “How did he get that through?” He is now getting the games, the consistency and making these kind of passes regularly.’
Loan rules prevented Allan from playing for Dundee or Hibernian at Celtic Park in season 2017-18.
So today marks his first appearance at the ground since a second-half substitute outing for Deila against Inverness Caley Thistle in February 2016.
Allan has faced Celtic twice this season when Paul Heckingbottom was manager — for a 1-1 draw at Easter Road, then the 5-2 Betfred Cup semi-final defeat.
But today’s dynamic of Allan’s return to Parkhead is one that the home fans should be wary about, even if they scarcely caught a fleeting glimpse of him while a Celtic player.
‘He’s a confident player and a confident guy, so I think he will fancy coming back here,’ said McGregor.
‘He played well in the Easter Road game, made the pass for their goal and did well in bits during the semi-final.
‘We know he’s always a danger when he gets on the ball in those areas. We have to be switched on.
‘When we do our homework on the game, we’ll look to limit the amount of threat he can carry.’
Allan also spent ill-fated time at Rotherham under Alan Stubbs while contracted to Celtic and skipped an entire season in 2018-19.
Those lost years only help fuel the mystery of his confusing career and his seemingly constant battle to maximise his talent and fulfil all the promise and potential.
At the age of 28, Allan is no closer to shedding the image of a luxury player, whose attitude to doing the so-called dirty work will forever place a question mark over his standing in the game.
‘People probably never saw enough of Scotty at Celtic to really judge him on that,’ added McGregor. ‘It is maybe an unfair one because anyone here would tell you that he did and could do that side of things.
‘He always worked hard in training. He would go and press just as well as anyone. It is only when you do that on the big stage that people start to take notice of it.
‘He was a great guy when he was here. It was just unfortunate that it never worked out.
‘Everyone here knew he had the ability — it was trying to get that run of games and be consistent.
‘This is such a big club that, to keep playing, you have to play well every week.
‘Scotty is that type of player, he likes to play on the edge. He can make four or five of those passes and, when they come off, they look amazing. But, if they don’t, it becomes a bit of a problem.
‘Maybe that’s why he never played quite so much here. The position he
plays was where we have always been very fortunate to have good players and fierce competition.
‘Even Ryan Christie and I were struggling to get in there. It helps if you can play in different positions, where maybe you can play more games.
‘Centrally, though, we had a lot of competition. Much of the time when Scotty played, he did well. It was
Scotty is one of the best I’ve seen for making that killer pass
probably just down to the volume of players here — and maybe a consistency issue.
‘But I think everyone can see he is a top talent who possesses great ability to unlock defences.’
After welcoming old friend Allan back to Celtic Park, McGregor’s focus will switch tomorrow to discovering the identity of their Europa League visitors for February 2020.
Celtic’s superb group campaign booked them a seeded berth in the last 32, although that won’t spare them a seriously tough tie if paired with Roma, Eintracht Frankfurt or Shakhtar Donetsk. McGregor insisted that, on the basis of recent form and performances, it is the Scottish champions who should now be considered by others as an opponent to fear.
‘Whoever we draw, we’ll fancy ourselves and I think we can be feeling a bit better about ourselves going into the draw this year,’ he stressed.
‘I’d like to think that other sides now look on us as a bad draw to get. With our home performances and our win away over Lazio, teams will start to recognise Celtic as being a power again in Europe.
‘Ours was a tough group and we did exceptionally well to top it. We have been playing with speed and aggression.
‘Before, we were maybe trying to control the game a bit more but we’re now happy to go to hunt teams down and play a bit more on the counter-attack.
‘Teams coming to Celtic Park will feel that atmosphere and feel that threat from us.
‘There are some top teams coming down (in the Europa League), so it could be important for us that we finished top. Knowing our luck, we probably still will draw a big gun.’