There are two types of criticism what are not valid. The kind based on bias and the kind based on personal attacks. We call that “playing the man and not the ball.” Most professional footballers, when they have been in the business long enough, come to recognise both of these things. Callum McGregor is nobody’s fool.
Yesterday, he sat in front of the hacks as the player who was made to defend that atrocity of a result and performance against Germany. Clarke fronted up with him, and the message is clear; Scotland has two games coming up and the focus has turned to them. We still have a chance to qualify, and that’s where the minds will be turned.
That’s where they should be. That’s where they belong.
But let’s not kid ourselves, there is a fair bit of unfinished business from the Germany game which McGregor, in particular, had to deal with. Namely some of the stick he’s taken from certain people in the time since the full-time whistle blew. He was asked, specifically, about the comments from Graeme Souness, and he admitted that yes, he takes them personally.
So he should. He knows they were personal, and he knows they were biased into the bargain. He knows the difference between a measured critique and desperate raving, frothing with bile, and he can’t be ignorant as to which of these that was.
Look, football in Scotland is a very insular community. There is nobody in it who is not fully aware that Souness has lost any semblance of balance these last few years. He frequently goes off on bizarre rants which make some of the people around him blanche.
You can hazard a guess as to why this is; a guy heading towards the end of his career, raging at the dying of the light; a twisted bigot who is now at the point where he can let it all out; a frustrated white man who cannot understand why we let minorities or women in the studio with him … take your pick really. There are options to choose from. More than once, I’ve listened to him spewing out ignorance lately and wondered if he’s all there.
Still, considerations like that do not matter to a man under attack. When you are being attacked you do not busy yourself wondering what motivates the person attacking you, you defend yourself first and worry about that stuff later. Callum has told the media straight that, yeah he takes it personally; it is personal, after all, and that’s the only way to take it, and he’s said that he will be looking to shut some people up. On the pitch, where it counts.
Callum is oddly fortunate in some ways, and his team-mates would do well to listen to him if he decides to lecture them on this subject. All season long he had people like Souness buzzing around Celtic, predicting doom and gloom and trying to unsettle the team, and so not only does Callum know exactly what’s going on here but he knows how to deal with it.
By getting everyone to focus, and perform on the pitch.
That way the critics don’t just have to eat their words, but they have to cover the victory party, and nothing makes them sicker than that. I think Souness and others who have singled Callum out here will be eating humble pie before this tournament is over.
Graeme Souness CBE ….Cheating Bastard Esquire.
He just can’t stop himself, the bigotry and hate towards anything Celtic is there for all to see.
He’s playing to the gallery of the neanderthals at Ibrox.
Why was Callum wheeled out to face the crayon scribblers, what happened to the captain Robertson, was he hiding in the changing room.
Shows the MAN that Callum is.
It took some balls to do it knowing full well he was going to get slaughtered, unlike that cringebag Souness hiding behind a camera taking pot shots, what on earth that prick is actually got anything to do with this tournament is any 1s guess , he’s yesterday’s man , an out of date relic more remembered for being a hatchet man than a player.
Any shite this embittered clown spews should be ignored as all he does really is talk gibberish shite .
Fade away into obscurity ya EBT sevco loving Hun prick.
I hope Souness is eating humble pie James, but of course he would never do that as he hasn’t the grace to do such an act, has no remorse, nor class, nor etiquette whatsoever in his life…
Hopefully Cal-Mac can ram his words down his horrible stinking throat by sterling performances v Switzerland and Hungary and Scotland make history by qualifying for the knockout stages of a major international football tournament for the first time…
As for Souness – He is just a another Calvinist Cretin that jumped the dyke from supporting Heart of Midlothian to jumping on the bandwagon with ‘Rangers’ as they were known then and Sevco now…
I believe that John Grieg and The Late Sandy Jardine were the exact same, though they seemed to be a bit more quieter and dignified in their lives than Souness will ever be !
I love McGregor he is already a Celtic hero and legend. If I was picking one Celtic player from the last 10 years to play in an all time Celtic squad it would be him. But the criticism was deserved he was poor. The problem is he is being played out of position….as he is for Celtic. He is not an anchor/defensive midfielder. He stepped in there when Brown left. He is far better offensively. He cant really tackle or read the game defensively. He is awesome going forward. At Celtic he can get away with it in the SPFL. But he gets found out IN THAT POSITON in Europe. I care less about Scotland but for Celtics sake we need a top class DM. This will support Callum and free him up to be an even better player for us.
C English at BBC chips in claiming Ralston was to blame also. a think Broonie was at fault too James
Come on Frank, obviously James Forrest at fault too. What’s he doing sat on his backside when his team needs him…well apparently that was English’s first draft.!!!
Have you noticed the narrative from the scoops in freebie land is of ..why wasn’t ‘ Billy ‘ playing from the start ? Likening him to Johan , Diego or Franz ? Inaction Jackson thinks ‘ Billy ‘ will end poverty throughout the world …just play him from the start ! Germany would have beaten Scotland if they were wearing sandals on Friday night such was the gulf in talent and technical abilities !
Souness has always had a problem with Celtic. He hates us. We represent everything that he hates about Scotland.
The Liebrox press men went out their way to make sure the “spat” between Sutton and Barbie / Baldermort was talked up in the press making Sutton out to be the bad man. Sutton is way too clever to get sucked into any of that bollocks. I don’t expect the Celtic press men to try the same.
I think it is unfortunate that Calmac has to deal with the bitterness of a hate filled idiot but, unlike Barbie and Baldermort, he’s a big boy. He can handle it.
Souness? Kid on hard man, who deliberately set out to end fellow professionals’ careers, through sheer thuggery.
He also betrayed every Liverpool supporter by giving THAT interview to ‘The Sun.’
Not a nice person at all. Typical Hun.
Hail Hail.
Early days of course, but looking at the technical ability of the players from the smaller nations in terms of population. Think we need a cold, hard look at what we in Scotland are coaching our kids in terms of their technical development.