Callum McGregor

Callum McGregor has hailed his Celtic reunion with Mark Fotheringham, following his side's 3-1 defeat of Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup.

Celtic reunion
The captain spent the 2013/14 season at EFL side Notts County, where he scored 14 goals in 41 appearances, shortly before his first-team breakthrough at Celtic. Also at the club at that time was ex-Celtic player Mark Fotheringham, who has returned to the club as a coach under Martin O'Neill.

"It's been brilliant," said McGregor, on linking up with Fotheringham 12 years on. "As soon as he walked through the door, I spoke to him briefly on Monday night. Then, I saw him at the training ground on Tuesday, and it was all smiles.

"We had an amazing time down the road, and Fozzy was someone who really looked after me in a critical period of my career. So, big smiles, big hugs, and I'm so glad that we can go and deliver on the pitch as well."

Young striker verdict
McGregor scored what would be the winner at the national stadium on Sunday, a long-range effort that got the better of Jack Butland in the Rangers goal.

He was joined in the goalscoring department by Johnny Kenny, who scored in the first half, while young striker Callum Osmand put the seal on Celtic's win on the day, netting his first-ever senior goal in the process.

"It's always an opportunity for every player when they come in," said McGregor on the two strikers' efforts. "They're working so hard to develop and get to the level of the first-team boys.

"Johnny (Kenny) scored two during the week, and you just know, I've been around football a long time, I just knew he would have an impact today. He has taken himself to another level in terms of status now, scoring against Rangers, and he'll be brimming with confidence.

"The same with young Ozzy (Callum Osmand), who's worked so hard. There have been times when he's been out of the squad, but he's a player who trains so hard every day and has a nice finish as well.

"He's just going to keep developing, and strikers with confidence can go and conquer the world."

McGregor continued: "I think it's a big day. In a semi-final, if you win, you get a chance to go to the final. If you don't, it probably just keeps more pressure on what's been a challenging start to the season.

"The slate was cleaned. The performance on Wednesday night was excellent, and then to come and deliver on a big day today shows me how much talent and ambition is in that dressing room."




A full circle Hampden moment?
Sunday's win at Hampden was the first time Celtic had returned to the national stadium since their Scottish Cup final defeat to Aberdeen. Following that match, McGregor was visibly emotional on the pitch, experiencing his first cup final defeat at Celtic via a penalty shootout.

So, was last weekend's Glasgow Derby a full-circle moment? "It's just about winning the game," replied the Celtic skipper. "You get over personal and collective disappointment in time.

"You never fully get over it, obviously, because of what happened that day, but the one thing you can control when you come back is trying to do everything you can to make sure you have a positive experience and the team gets to where they want to be.

"I'm super thankful my teammates were there with me today, and we got through to the final, which is where we want to be."

O'Neill's impact
Over 20 years on from his last Glasgow Derby, O'Neill was victorious, with the interim manager winning two games out of two so far for Celtic.

No stranger to working with legendary club captains, the 73-year-old was full of praise for his skipper after the game, with McGregor returning the favour post-match. "He's been great," he said. "He's someone with huge experience who has been around the block so many times and is a really calm influence.

"He was exceptional again. He asked for intensity from the players, and I think in the first half, you could see we pretty much won every duel, every first ball, and every second ball. We were excellent, so he was a big part of that as well. He's a real calm head and just asked us to go and play, believe in ourselves, and that we'd win the game.

"You want to work with top managers, and he's someone who's been around the block a fair few times. With his experience, he's managed at such a high level. Since he's come in, he's just pumped everybody full of confidence. The players feel good, they want to run and fight, and that's exactly what you need in this game.

"He's been excellent since he came in."

He continued: "It's a collective effort - always has been, and always will be. The staff behind the manager have been so good this week. Just having that continuity of message, training level, everything is all interconnected.

"The manager can't do it on his own; he needs his backroom staff in the same way the players can't do it on their own; they need everybody.

"It's a real collective effort, and that's something I'm super proud of from the last week."

 

Said same in hun thread..

His starting shape and lineup was laughably bad. Ripped to shreds and bullied them..

Then 10, a change from them and us taking foot off a bit against 10 and a slackness creeping in....gave them something to cling on to. Now that's all they have. Could and should've been a high scoring game from us. They had some breakaway chances first half but we genuinely shoulda been outta sight..

Second as well. Off the bar and their keepers leg, right in to him. When does that ever happen. Osmand. Hatate. Had so many chances to run up a big score..

As I said before, I'm glad they're going with this hard done by narrative. I hope they come to us when we have the likes of Johnston back, Maeda fully fit, team more settled after a chaotic week and play that same way. We'll maul that back line..