One of the most intriguing things about the next couple of months will be the role Brendan Rodgers assigns to Callum McGregor. Having talked about wanted “power” in the team, it’s clear that he’s talking about bringing in a midfield hard man. That guy, presumably, will play in the position Callum McGregor currently holds down.
But as Rodgers has made plain, Callum McGregor is a critical part of his Celtic plans, and that drops a very big hint that the captain will be played further forward. That might be the best thing to happen to us.
That will restore him to what I think is his best position.
Others may disagree, but I miss the Callum McGregor of old, the number 8, the guy who got forward and scored goals. I want to see that player restored to his true position at Celtic Park. Much as I love him in the role he currently inhabits, he’s wasted there … his real value to the team is at its creative heart. That’s a change I think we’re going to see.
There are other players in the squad who can take on the defensive duties. Iwata might be called upon to do so. Matt O’Riley crucially has looked very good there. The team has good options in it at the moment and it never hurts that we have money to spend.
Everyone at the club is going to get a chance to impress Rodgers, but Callum McGregor already has of course.
It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that he was the single biggest influence on our captain’s career and I can imagine how please McGregor is to have him here. Their partnership prior to this was excellent.
The good times are about to roll again.
Something has to give in midfield then, if Ange came for a hatate I’d bite the hand off him. Reason being, in a season he gives us 6 world class performances, 6 were he can not find any of his team mates and you could pull him off after 15 minutes and the rest he would get pass marks only. For what it’s worth, that’s my opinion and we as part of the Celtic family we are all entitled to that. There will be wholesale changes for sure and I for one am very excited.
Nearly impossible at this stage to say where individuals will fit into Rodgers team set up.
A treble was still achieved last season, despite squad numbers still not been quite right, and the early signs are that squad numbers will be improved overall within the squad.
Midfield and right wing seems the main focus at the moment, but until the defensive set up becomes more clearer then we might be able to guess better in where certain players might fit in better.
Believe another CB remains a priority still weather Rodgers is going to go 3/4 at the back.
Guessing 3 might be favourite, especially with another LB potentially needed if he goes for the 4 imo.
As for calmac, i agree with yourself that playing with a 2 in Central midfield allows for calmac to push on moreso, where he was still able to chip in with a few crucial goals last season, where he remains better than in a defensive mode imo.
Going with a 3 at the back also should allow us to double up in the wider areas with more attack minded players than the use of full backs in doing so.
Will be interesting to see how it will all unfold, but certainly think very exciting times lays ahead with plenty of success with exciting attacking football, and potentially even moreso than what we enjoyed under Ange imo.
Lol I see the sevco headbangers are going TONTO tonight regarding the coefficients for CL places as well as others Scottish clubs places in Europe,apparently every club in Scotland can than sevco for how they managed a place in Europe this season,especially Celtic as sevco did all the donkey work for the one automatic place straight into the champions league.
A couple have gone totally OTT with some posts on the article on FF here is a couple for good measure and some serious PARANOIA and THICKNESS.
One thing I want the club to focus on is the difference in how our and their games are refereed in our league.
This contributes to our chances of winning the league and claiming the automatic CL that our hard work has earned.
In their games opponents are booked early against them, one Hibs player was sent off in the first 25 minutes for two bookings at one stage despite regularly committing more fouls than the other team. We on the other hand are opposite, opponents are to assault until late in the game ,in fact regularly it’s a Rangers player that’s booked first.
We need to keep an eye on it this season because it’s hurting us and there is a big prize for the winners.
Here is another PARANOID post.
Not to name any names or anything but I fell into the company of a board member one night.Got round to mentioning this.He pulled out his phone and showed me messages between himself and Gio with the actual table that was doing the rounds at the time with their distorted average bookings per fouls compared to everyone else.
The club should be highlighting things like this.Get ex players to shout from the rooftops about it. Dignified silence gets us f*****g nowhere.
Lol two absolute belters but also to many to mention.
When has the good times stopped
Completely agree James. Further forward in the midfield the better for me. Not only does he score a lot of goals but he scores important goals in the big games. We are very lucky to have his drive and determination to do his absolute best. Clearly the club means a hell of a lot to him and his family. A true Celtic man and great captain.
Just why do you think Odin is here.
Orielly has been crap in that role for ages, easily pushed off and dispossessed only to run like a headless chook and give up crucial fouls.
Harsh ?
I sincerely hope that Rodgers: post serious discussions w/ 100% total respect to our fabulously-talented captain on & off the park re; a possible move back to a more attacking role, in which, in seasons past, when Broony was captain; CalMac rattled in a fair few goals & was a vital part of our attack, but was also fully equipped & well-suited w/ the ability to drop back to defend/help the defence out as & when required.
Next step for Rodgers could be if he can instill confidence, a vast improvement in performance levels & serious amounts of self-belief & confidence in squad players like Haksabanovic, Bernabei, Yuki Kobayashi, to name but three. Personally, I feel that given the right support from the managers & backed-up by his backroom team, we might just see at least 2 of the 3 names mentioned seriously raise their game along w/ their consistency and self-belief that they can fit into being an important member of the 1st team squad. If this doesn’ work, then they should all be moved on to free up a fair amount of cash, (from their monthly salaries alone), so those extra funds can be put to better use in buying a much steelier/no-nonsense, physically tough player who has the adaptability to easily switch between defence & defensive midfield roles whenever it is required from him from our Manager.
I know my next opinio might not be so popular w/ some fellow supporters, but for me personally, I’d aim to try to sell Mikey Johnson for as high a fee as we can possibly achieve in the close season – freeing up yet another fairly decent monthly salarywhich can be utilised to pay for another, slightly older defender who has bags of experience and will be a massive signing who can step into Starfelt’s position whenever he picks up another injury or a suspension.
To me, Mikey Johnson has always been a ‘glory-hunter, who, rather than make a v. simple pass to a Celtic player in a few yards of space in the opponents penalty area who is in a miles better position to possibly bury the ball for another goal, would rather takeon a completely ridiculous shot which inevitably ends up way-off target. I’ve witnessed it time & time again – extremely reminiscent of Paul Burchill when he also broke into the 1st team, but was unbelievably selfish who’d rather go for personal glory than pass to another player in the Hoops in clearly, (for all eyes on him to see), a much, much better position, who could quite easily score a possibly important goal for the team.
plenty to think about…
Hail Hail from Japan! G.
p.s. **Paul Burchill = MARK Burchill**, apologies for the mix-up – my only excuse is I’m 62 and get names wrong quite often….
I Agree. I think McGregor is our best player since Nakamura. He in my view is better further forward and i have been saying for 2 years we need a top DM, with power. Add a CH and LB and CF. That is the four priorities for me. I’d like to see Seigrest get more time in goal also. I rate McGregor so highly also because of his loyalty to us. I would pick him in my ALL TIME Celtic squad along with Murdoch, Auld, Larsson, McNeil, Johnstone McGrain Gemmill, Connelly Dalglish, McGrory Lennox and other legends. I rate him more highly than McStay, Burns Aitken and that is saying something!
When he was first introduced to the 1st team Callum’s progressive game was a revelation. There’s more than just goals in him in that position and it’s been so underused, for years now, you’d be forgiven for not remembering its impact at all. I’d be very interested to see his impact there now in 2023 and think it’s a waste playing him so defensively when so many other players could potentially do it. Unleash him. HH