Callum McGregor: New Bhoys have made a great impact

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Celtic F.C.

·13. Februar 2026

Callum McGregor: New Bhoys have made a great impact

Callum McGregor is a serial winner at Celtic, with 24 major honours to his name over the past 12 years.

And he knows from experience that on the road to any success, there will be challenges to overcome. That has certainly been the case this season, but the Celtic captain knows that he is part of a squad that is determined to end this campaign with more silverware.

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The Hoops are back in action this Sunday when they travel to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock (KO: 2pm), and the target is to take home another three vital league points.

Celtic’s two most recent games have seen late drama – a last-gasp equaliser from Junior Adamu in the Scottish Cup against Dundee to take the tie into extra-time, and then an added time debut winner from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on Wednesday night against Livingston.

In an ideal world, the Hoops would like a comfortable win at the weekend, but regardless of that is achieved, victory is the sole aim.

Speaking to Celtic TV, Callum McGregor reflected on the impact the new Bhoys have had since arriving at the club.

“I think anyone who comes into the club sees the way we train and the intensity we train at every day,” he said.

'The message of the team is the same – keep going and be relentless, and it’s not by luck or by chance that we’re scoring so many late goals.'

“It’s the mentality in the team, that never-say-die attitude and everybody buying in to what exactly it is we want to do, because the games are tight and we need to keep going and going.

“The impact from the new guys and the impact from the bench has been so important and will continue to be like that.

“Credit to the guys coming in because it’s not easy to settle quickly, but what we try and do is give them the team idea and the team message.

“Hopefully the bits that are in place when the new guys come in, they just feed off that and everyone keeps going and keeps learning the system and producing the moments of quality that we do need.

“So it’s been great for the new guys to come in and have such a big impact.”

It has been an eventful season so far for Celtic both on and off the pitch – ‘a unique challenge’ is how McGregor describes it – with Martin O’Neill having returned for a second time in this campaign.

As well as guiding the team into the play-off stage of the UEFA Europa League, the Irishman has also remained unbeaten domestically – with 12 wins and just one draw from his 13 fixtures across the three domestic competitions.

And the Celtic captain is full of praise for his manager over his two spells in charge this season.

“He’s brilliant, he’s very honest and he’s very down the line,” Callum McGregor said.

“He tells you when it’s good, he tells you when he wants more, but he’s got an amazing feel for Celtic – when you understand Celtic and you understand what it’s about – it give you that feel to say the right thing at the right time, and he’s had an amazing impact on the players.

“Obviously Shaun and Foz and Gav and Mick have been doing a lot of the training, but the manager just comes in and sprinkles that dust on top and he’s an amazing man-manager and he is getting the best out of the group, individually and collectively.

'So he’s been amazing over the two spells so far and you can see that the boys are fighting for him.'

"Like I said, he’s a brilliant man and he tells you exactly what you want to hear.”

Celtic head to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock this Sunday, knowing that it took a last-minute Kelechi Iheanacho penalty to win the game 2-1 when the sides met there back in September.

And the Hoops skipper is expecting another tough encounter this weekend against a side who have won their last two home games, scoring seven goals in the process.

“It’s momentum now,” he said. “You need to keep winning games and doing everything you can – training well, recovering well, and then when the games come, doing everything you can to win them.

“Killie have had a change of manager. Neil McCann was at Dundee a few years ago as well and we played against his teams – they do like to open up and play, so hopefully we’ll get the chance to press the ball properly and try and impose ourselves on the game, but all these games at Rugby Park are always tough.

“You’ve got to take on the conditions with the astro pitch, but I’m sure that, come Sunday, the boys will be ready for it.”