STILL RIGHT UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
Fending off competition for his place is nothing new for marathon man McGregor and he is...
CALLUM McGREGOR has been fending off competition for his place ever since breaking into the Celtic first team back in 2014. And so the rise of Billy Gilmour, a young man tipped by some to displace the midfielder from Steve Clarke’s Scotland team, is merely the latest career challenge he hopes will spur him on to even greater heights.
A newly-anointed Champions League winner with Chelsea, Gilmour turned 20 on Friday and earned rave reviews for his cameo appearance in the win over Luxembourg last weekend.
By his own admission, McGregor’s form suffered as Celtic’s bid for 10 in a row collapsed last season.
However, he refutes the suggestion he might benefit from a lay-off after what has effectively been five years of continuous football for club and country.
He turns 28 tomorrow and it would be a surprise if Clarke marked the occasion by dropping the birthday boy from the Euro 2020 opener against the Czech Republic at Hampden.
What is clear is that McGregor is now part of the senior generation within Clarke’s squad.
The way he sees it, he must use that status to mentor Gilmour along with this summer’s two other young conscripts David Turnbull and Nathan Patterson.
‘Every season you get challenged by new people, different players coming through,’ he says.
‘I think everyone in the squad is here to play a part — we are not directly in competition.
‘It’s like that every season, you have to give your best and push to stay in the team, to make sure you are doing what the manager asks you to do.
‘There is always somebody trying to catch you and take your jersey. That’s why it’s super competitive.
‘It’s up to the more experienced ones to help the youngsters get on to the level we have reached, where we have qualified for a major tournament.
‘It’s probably as talented a squad as we have had in terms of numbers. We have a core of players who can all play. You have to help the next crop — that’s what being a team and being a squad is all about.
‘I had it with guys like Broony (Scott Brown) and Charlie Mulgrew who were brilliant with me at Celtic. At that time, I was pushing them — so it turns full circle.’
Regarding his own form, McGregor finds it impossible to disentangle his personal frustrations with the malaise that infected Celtic in a season that was hyped to extremes, yet played out in the soulless environment of empty stadiums.
‘Everyone in football has their opinion,’ he says. ‘That’s why the focus is so wide on it but we just had to concentrate on the everyday stuff, the way we trained and the way we played.
‘Granted, the season did not go the way we planned it to. But when you build something up so much, obviously the downfall of that is going to be massive, too. We now have to put that behind us.’
Being with Scotland on the eve of such a momentous occasion has helped flush much of that despair from his system.
He issues a cheerful greeting as he turns up to speak at Scotland’s Rockliffe Hall base and admits that he is enthused by the prospect of playing at a major tournament for the first time.
‘I feel great,’ insists McGregor. ‘Going into a tournament energises you. You feel fresher. The good thing is that having played so many games I feel in a good rhythm. I just want to go and do myself and the country proud.’
The chances are Clarke will name McGregor alongside Scott McTominay in central midfield. Chiefly, he is there to look after the ball and help Scotland retain possession.
But his role for Clarke has developed some extra defensive duties as he covers for Kieran Tierney, whenever the Arsenal defender marauds forward from his berth at left centre-back.
McGregor played with Tierney through his formative years at Celtic and views him as one of Scotland’s most potent weapons.
He continues: ‘I don’t think I have ever hidden my admiration for KT — he has been a superstar.
‘He has been a super talent for years and he is still getting better. He has to flip his role when he plays in this Scotland system but he is a tremendous player.
‘KT is full of confidence, you see that in the way he takes people on in the Premier League. I have no doubt he will keep going and get even better.
‘The beauty of having him there is that he can step in if he sees it is on to break forward. And he is just as good as an attacker.
‘That is then difficult for the opposition to set up against. I’m sure we will have that up our sleeve.’
While McGregor is happy to plug away in a deep-lying role, he concedes that some of the more forward-thinking aspects of his game have to be sacrificed.
With Celtic, he made his name as an attacking midfielder and has been a regular scorer at domestic level.
Yet in 31 appearances for his country, he has yet to find the net outwith the pressure environment of the penalty shoot-out.
So what chance a birthday goal tomorrow?
‘Aye, that would be nice,’ he chuckles. ‘I probably play slightly deeper for Scotland, so it’s a different role but, of course, I would love to get off the mark.’
This afternoon, Clarke and his players will board the team bus to Glasgow and make their final preparations ahead of tomorrow’s opening game.
Having the savoured the first couple of days of competition via television, McGregor is now looking forward to experiencing it all first hand.
‘It’s such a big tournament, the equivalent of Champions League football,’ says McGregor. ‘You just have to trust your past experiences, trust yourself and then deliver when you go out on the pitch.
‘I’m pretty confident in that sense. If I’m asked to play, then I will be ready.
‘There’s a real feelgood factor, it’s brilliant to be part of this group. We have done so well to get here and now we have to enjoy it.
‘There’s not point in putting all that hard work in, all that stress, to come here and not enjoy it.
‘We know how good we are. We are always getting better and we really welcome the challenge to go and put these teams under pressure.’