Big admirer Rice plots to curb talents of McGregor
BRIAN RICE can pride himself on having spotted a few rough diamonds in the English lower leagues over the years. He didn’t exactly require that expert eye when looking in on a couple of Notts County games six years ago.
For he watched two polished young midfield gems stand out in the same struggling side that finished 20th in the third tier of 2013/14.
There in League One action at Meadow Lane was an on-loan midfield double act of Jack Grealish and Callum McGregor.
The flashy Aston Villa playmaker has been widely touted for an England place at Euro 2020 after captaining his club to the Carabao Cup final.
For McGregor (below), an English Premier League platform will surely be his to claim in the next year or so. But not before he is content to complete a stellar Celtic career.
Today McGregor’s stage is the Fountain of Youth Stadium, Hamilton, where Rice has been nursing through the latest batch of Accies academy talent.
The Hamilton head coach’s betting breach suspension means he will not be on hand today to help them withstand the challenge of 90 minutes against the league leaders.
But if there is one homegrown talent in the Scottish game Rice often identifies to give his young prospects incentive and correct guidance for their own playing career, it is the excellence of Celtic’s No 42.
‘I think Callum McGregor is a brilliant example for any young kid,’ said Rice.
‘He’s one lad I love watching for his natural enthusiasm for the game. ‘He plays the way I like to see football played. He’s in one box clearing it. Then he’s in the other box scoring.
‘Just watch him when he’s scored a goal — he’s so delighted. He is a great example to any young player.
‘There’s certain players I mention to my young players. There are players I admire in Scottish football for their energy and love of the game.
‘Although I’ve never spoken to him, I get that impression about Callum.’ McGregor was 20 when packed off to Nottingham by Neil Lennon for the final season of the manager’s first spell in charge of Celtic.
He played 41 times and has credited his year in England with priming him for making an instant impact the following season under Ronny Deila.
He has been a regular ever since. For the Norwegian, then Brendan Rodgers and now Lennon in title-winning seasons, the current unbeaten knockout tournament run and on major European nights.
McGregor was recognised as having his attitude spot-on for a top-level career while playing in front of fewer than 4,000 fans at the likes of Colchester and Crawley.
Rice explained: ‘When he got put out on loan to Notts County, he treated it fantastically well.
‘I saw him play there a couple of times when I was in the area visiting friends and had huge respect for him.
‘He showed how it should be done when you’re out on loan — in a very different environment to the one he had at Celtic.
‘He left the best training facilities, the best of everything and then had to muck in at Notts County. A different style of football, a different level of football. But he adapted. Yet he was only a kid at the time.
‘He came back to Celtic, got himself in the team and has probably played more games than anyone in the last two seasons.
‘He’s playing at international level, too, and very rarely picks up an injury.’
Typically, McGregor offered an influential full 90 minutes in Celtic’s two slender successes over Hamilton this season.
Accies have kept it close against the champions, losing 1-0 at home to a James Forrest strike then 2-1 to a last-minute Scott Brown goal at Parkhead.
Rice said: ‘It’s very difficult to say we’ve found a way to play against Celtic or Rangers.
‘But there are areas of the pitch where we try to identify strengths and weaknesses, and those are things we work on.
‘A lot of it when you play the Old Firm is about which version of them turns up. ‘We can set out to do everything we want to do, but Celtic and Rangers have players who can turn a match.
‘We just have to make sure we’re compact. And the great thing is that we’ve got belief.’