Callum McGregor

One of the biggest things for me is even though he has definitely gotten slower and less mobile, he should still be able to burst past someone who's coming to press. He does it on the odd occasion but should be doing it far more.

He's just far too conservative with the ball now. He gets the ball and opens it up to Scales/CCV. When he can take the ball on the half turn himself and play the ball forward to a full back or one of the 8s in front of him.

 

McGregor is the equivalent of a forklift driver in a warehouse who is scared he might take the whole rack down with the forklift so he tells the warehouse workers to get up on a ladder and manually handle the pallet contents down.

I'm utterly stunned that there are posters here who seemingly watch us every week and think he provides great leadership and character when he is visibly shirking his primary duty on the pitch.

 

Needs to have a look at himself before telling the new guys what needs to happen. Hiding again last night.

 

He took the ball on the half turn once last night and guess what. It created a bit of space. Need to see that so much more

 

It's a sort of unhinged emotional attachment to a player that makes them delusional. Cannot or will not see their favourite player being criticised under any circumstance whatsoever.

 

John Giles used to rage against 'pointers'

"Don't point,get on the ball and do it yourself or get off the pitch "

Father time has caught up with Calmac unfortunately

And it's another indictment of the club that planning for this day hasn't taken place

 

I suggested last year, he should retire at the end of the season, while he was still at the top.
Now he only has two realistic options facing him now. Either being dropped or soldiering on while in clear decline.
McGregor never had the engine Scott Brown had, and has burned himself out much earlier due to being overplayed by various managers, and also not having a physical ball winner beside him anymore, to take the strain off him.

 

The pointing is out of control. I’m not saying it’s conscious but he’s doing it so the ball doesn’t come to him.

Rodgers famously tried to drop Slippy so he could hit progress Liverpool and it was a disaster, because slippy is a *. I doubt Rodgers would do it again here. We just need to hope McGregor turns it around but I can’t see it. His athleticism is gone.

 

He’s been pish. Scary thing is he’s been better than Engels and Hatate this season, and better than Nygren most games.

 

He's not the only one who doesn't take it on the half turn.
The number of times our midfield and wingers take the ball straight on with their back to goal and simply bounce it straight back is infuriating.

That's basic coaching that you'd teach kids not to do

 

McGregor is a fantastic leader, of that there is no doubt. But I think there's also massive added pressure to him this season again due to a shambolic window. He had to address transfer activity and now finds himself leader of a poor squad despite joining Brendan in calling for reinforcements. And clearly trying to lead this squad of dross to victories every game is taking its toll on him. His performances havent been great in some games but the disjointed midfield and having a pathetic front 3 to try and get the ball to is a massive part of the problem. Other than Tounetki and small flashes from Iheanacho our front 3 plus subs in those areas every single game are inviting pressure on the midfield as they are offering absolutely nothing. Plus we've had some really * performances from Hatate, Engels and Nygren alongside him. Its a tough spot for him and I really do sympathise with him.

 

Hasn’t reached the heights of what he is capable of, but by no means has he been pish and there is a huge over reaction to his performances.
It has been clear for some time that we are lacking physicality and steel in the midfield, but McGregor is still one of the better midfielders in Scotland and still the best in our team.
We he plays well, we play well. People talking about him needing dropped need their heads checked. We simply don’t have better than him in that position at the moment.

The midfield system is a bigger issue than McGregor and it has been for some time.

McGregor is a leader and winner and he will be doing everything to ensure the standards are raised. We don’t have too many leaders in the squad and it’s why it’s even more important he stays in the side

 

Is it a lobster or a crab that always moves sideways, just looking for a new nickname for CalMac

 

Fantasy, he'd be a good club captain but he's never been a leader on the park, he disappears when he should be rousing our team and driving us forward, his retirement from Scotland duty hasn't helped as much as he'd/we'd wish, mind for many seasons with European qualification rounds he was playing more games than anyone else in Europe and it's definitely caught up with him.

 

Easy to come out with that after a poor team performance, but you simply cannot look at his performances since he took the armband from Brown and say he's not been a good on-field leader. That's outright lies. I agree he's played too much football and we don't rotate him enough, but that in no way reflects on him as a captain. Its like anything else, looks great when winning and looks * when losing. What you're saying suggests that every manager he's played under is talking * about him and they've all made a wrong choice.

 

Demonstrably untrue.

 

I do think time has caught up with him and I’d be tempted to drop him if I’m honest. Saying he hasn’t been a leader is miles off the mark though.

 

Look at Liverpool 2014/15, Celtic 2018/2019, Leicester 2022/23. Look at the similarities and you'll find your answer

 

he has been a ridiculous athlete for that many years that any sort of dip looks a * of a lot worse . i would hazard a guess that if we sort out the problems in the final third ,the attacking players will do their jobs at that will in turn take the pressure of mcgregor to make himself available for every backwards pass