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Callum McGregor Appears To Be Criticising Celtic’s Tactics Again This Evening.

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I listened to Callum McGregor tonight in much the way I imagine him listening to Neil Lennon and John Kennedy when they are reading out the teams and laying out the tactics to him and the team for games these days; in mounting horror at the words and their meaning.

Most have focussed on his obvious frustration and anger at the performance of himself and his fellow players, but in fact I think more significant is when he talks about the plan or the lack thereof.

“We didn’t really understand the game, in terms of trying to build out and giving them territory, that’s what they want,” is what Callum said and I don’t believe you need to be a code-breaker to see what he is saying.

That is an explicit criticism of the team shape and the tactics.

And that worries me, because if Callum is unhappy at Celtic then I can imagine he’s not the only one. This is guy we gave the captains armband to and for the third time this season he’s come out after a game and openly questioned the plan we went into it with.

I think it’s a captains responsibility to do stuff like that.

I think it’s important that the fans know how the dressing room feels about this unfolding calamity, and Callum is our golden boy because he’s the “fan in a jersey” the kid who sat in the stands and played for the club.

Callum, if we can convince him to stay, can be the next captain and forge his own legend, but if he’s not comfortable and he’s not happy and he doesn’t see the club being all it can be and going where a good captain would want it to go there’s no way he’ll hang around.

I don’t think the full reality of what’s gone wrong at Celtic this season has sunk in for a lot of people.

There’s a reason so many of our first team footballers are heading for the exit, and I don’t think it’s really got anything to do with them wanting the fresh challenge.

I think some of them have lost their belief that Celtic is a club going places, a club with ambition and intent.

They see the hiring of a manager who doesn’t meet the standards of Brendan Rodgers – the standards they rose to and won a Quadruple Treble – and they think the club has lost its edge.

And they are right, and that worries me because I know a lot of people would have let these guys go to prop the manager up and if he’s still there in the summer it becomes increasingly likely that most of our best players are no longer going to be.

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