McGregor’s message shows that Celtic won’t be broken.

I was interested yesterday not only in the manager’s words, which I wrote about earlier, but also in the words of the Celtic captain, Callum McGregor.

There’s a lot of stuff being tossed around online about who exactly he was talking about when he mentioned people trying to break us. Anyone who thinks he was talking about Celtic fans who oppose the club’s present course of action has not been paying attention and does not understand Callum McGregor in any way, shape or form.

What have I been saying on this blog for many, many weeks now? Nobody wants us to win this. Hibs fans probably would like to see it, but the rest of Scottish football is lining up either behind Ibrox or Tynecastle.

Much of the media would prefer someone other than Celtic, and there is even a hint of a suggestion that the governing bodies themselves would prefer it if a non-Glasgow club were champions. The reasons for that are obvious. They believe it makes the league look more credible and therefore more attractive to commercial sponsors and outside investment.

I’ve already gone over the many reasons why I don’t believe that’s true, so we don’t need to relitigate that here. The simple fact is that we don’t have many cheerleaders out there. But then, we’re Celtic. We’ve never needed the approval, the love or the respect of the rest of Scottish football. We just have to be better than it.

Callum McGregor has read every single word written about this team. Every single word that writes it off. Every single word that says this is a squad with nothing left. He understands that much of this targets psychological pressure points.

If this team loses its confidence, it’s done. The title race is over.

But McGregor and the rest of them refuse to let that happen. That doesn’t mean we’ll get everything right. It means they still have the will to fight for every minute of every game that remains.

Don’t think for a minute that his comments weren’t also a reference to the authorities and some of the decisions that have gone against us. I suspect that’s exactly what he was talking about. And in that, he is absolutely right.

Callum knows what’s happening out there. There is pressure being applied on us from multiple directions.

This is an effort to make sure this Celtic team doesn’t get over the line.

I thought his defence of the team was strong within the right parameters. He pointed out, quite rightly, that if this is such a poor Celtic side, why are we still in touching distance?

It was exactly the kind of bullish response you want from your captain, especially when the manager was preparing to let loose the dogs of war. It shows a team and a management group that are completely unified and fully committed to the cause.

The thing that stood out most was that they don’t seem intimidated or afraid. That’s what you expect from a captain and a manager who’ve been here before, time and again. Whatever anyone says about pressure, these guys deal with it every single day. They know how to handle it.

Much has been made about Tynecastle trying to build a siege mentality. There has even been talk that the Ibrox club is attempting the same. In some ways, we’re fortunate. Celtic don’t need to manufacture a siege mentality. We’re always under siege. It’s the natural state of affairs at this club. But this year, more than most, it feels real.

It’s good to see the captain and the manager in such a bullish, front-foot mood going into this game. It’s everything I hoped for, but didn’t quite expect. I thought we might see a lowering of the temperature, an attempt to minimise the importance of the fixture. When you’re not at your best, that can be a useful tactic. Political parties do it all the time. Lower expectations. Talk down what’s coming.

But not these guys. Not Martin O’Neill. Not Callum McGregor.

They’ve leaned into it. They’ve come across as men determined to make a point. Neither of them has framed this as do-or-die, but the message is clear enough. They’re prepared to do whatever it takes to win.

And that, combined with the performance in Stuttgart, makes me far more confident than I was on Monday morning after that atrocious display against Hibs.

As I’ve said before, none of us really fears Ibrox. Not this team. Not this manager. What most of us fear is Celtic itself. The version of us that turns up.

Well, Martin O’Neill has made it clear which version he expects to see. The version that currently holds the SPFL title.

And if that team turns up, then I fully expect three points.