When Callum McGregor first became Celtic captain last summer after long serving leader Scott Brown left the club, there were many supports who didn’t believe he was up to the job.
Even a few months in, some believed he just wasn’t captain material as they had it in their mind that a captain can only be someone in the exact same mould as Scott Brown.
Now one year into his reign, I think every Celtic supporter can see that making McGregor captain was an excellent choice, and he is a fantastic representative of our football club, both on and off the field.
Speaking about McGregor on a the Currie Club podcast, Postecoglou was full of praise for the man he gave the armband to:
“Outstanding. Outstanding” said Postecoglou on McGregor’s leadership.
“That was one of the key things for me, I kind of knew, with Browny leaving and the influence he had, you kind of think, well, it’s alright for me to come in and have all these ideas, but I’m gonna need some real on field, strong leadership.”
“Joe Hart was kind of part of that process, but everyone, before I came here was saying Callum is the heir apparent.”
“I thought, ok, that’s great to hear, but it’s like anything else, when he get’s that responsibility, how’s he going to be?”
“I didn’t announce him straight away, I kind of took the first week or so to just test things and just have discussions with him.”
“He is a different type, but I saw inside of him, there was a kind of glint in his eye that he wanted this.”
“He wasn’t going to let me give it to anyone else.”
“He wanted this responsibility. He’d done his time, he’d worked under a fantastic leader, he’d had success at the club, he wanted this to be his club.”
“He wasn’t gonna move on, he wasn’t gonna go to the Premier League or whatever. I think he’d made a decision in his mind that this was his club, so now he wanted to take this club to the next level.”
“He’s been outstanding. A – because you’ve got to perform on the field, he has to, because again, he’s not a screamer or a shouter or one that’s going to get stuck in, he’s got to play his football.”
“But within his personality, he’s lead in his own way and there’s been a real strength that this group of players have really bonded with.”
“He’s been outstanding.”