Celtic Captain Callum McGregor Slams Team Performance
Callum McGregor did not bother with diplomacy. Celtic had just been taken apart by Rangers at Ibrox, beaten by three and beaten in just about every department, and their captain walked in front of the Sky Sports cameras and tore into his own team.
“It wasn't us,” he said, the verdict as blunt as the performance. “The difference between the two sides was you saw a team and then you saw a team of individuals as well.”
On one side, Rangers hunting in packs. On the other, Celtic players drifting through a quarter-final like strangers.
A team of individuals
McGregor’s anger centred on something that cuts to the core of any dressing room: work rate without the ball. He saw teammates who wanted the ball at their feet, not the responsibility when they lost it.
“We looked like a team of individuals who like to do our own thing and play when we got the ball,” he said, “not necessarily run when you don't have the ball, [which is] the thing you can't do when you come here.”
That last line stung. Ibrox demands intensity. Celtic offered almost none. Rangers, in contrast, looked drilled and connected, every press backed up, every runner tracked. McGregor framed it simply: they were a unit; Celtic were not.
The captain’s warning was stark and simple: “You can't defend with six players, it's impossible.” Too many green and white shirts switched off, he suggested, leaving a handful to absorb wave after wave of blue pressure.
Scars from Europe
This was not an isolated collapse. The wounds from Europe are still fresh. Celtic had one foot in the Champions League play-off round after a 3-0 first-leg win over LASK. They then imploded, losing 5-1 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate, a staggering turnaround that exposed the same soft underbelly.
That experience clearly lingered in McGregor’s mind as Rangers racked up the goals. He admitted he was already thinking damage limitation on the pitch, speaking directly to his centre-backs Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales.
“[Y]ou don't want fours and fives for sure. As soon as the goals go in, then I'm saying to Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales, no more goals,” he revealed.
For a Celtic captain to be reduced to that plea in an Old Firm tie tells its own story. This is a team wobbling, not just losing.
No time to lick wounds
The schedule offers no mercy. Celtic now have to pick themselves up for a Europa League night at home to Ferencvaros on Thursday, with all the tension that brings after their Champions League exit.
Then comes the immediate test of character: Rangers again, this time at Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Two games, four days, one bruised squad. McGregor has thrown down the challenge. The question now is whether his teammates respond as a team, or drift back into the comfort of individuals when it matters most.
