Callum McGregor reckons discontent within Celtic support is unprecedented | OneFootball

Celtic captain Callum McGregor spoke to the media ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s Scottish Premiership clash with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park…

The Celtic captain’s media conference has had at the time of writing 17k views on Celtic’s YouTube channel, which is unusually high for the a Celtic player’s pre-match meeting with the press. However it’s still 20k views behind the explosive media conference given shortly afterwards by Brendan Rodgers, which has already reached 37k views despite being posted by the club some three hours later than is usual.

Callum McGregor at Ibrox. theRangers v Celtic, 31 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

The Celtic skipper addressed fan criticism towards the board, working with the two new players who came in on deadline day and the challenge Kilmarnock will bring on their own patch in tomorrow’s match which has a 3pm kick-off and is live on Sky Sports and also on Celtic TV for subscribers based outside of Britain and Ireland.

You can read Callum’s comments from yesterday’s media conference below…

Callum McGregor at Ibrox. theRangers v Celtic, 31 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Callum, how would you sum up the feeling amongst the playing squad after the break?

Callum McGregor: “Yeah, good actually. Training has been really good. Certainly in the last week, this week, obviously we’ve got the boys back together. There wasn’t too many away on international, so that actually gives a good chance to sort of start working with the new guys, the group that are here. The boys have come in in the summer, just trying to drip feed the messages in about how we want to play and how we work and all these things. So that actually gives us a nice break to just sort of hammer home some of the principles and the way that we want to work.”

Q: How important is integration of the new players because you don’t need me to tell you there’s been so much focus on players coming in. Maybe easy to forget that players actually did come in, how important is it you all provide an environment that they can hit the ground running?

Callum McGregor: “Yeah, well that’s it. I think, you know, internally, us inside the building, inside the dressing room, you know, we have to galvanise a team spirit and bring the boys in, make them feel welcome because the minute they feel welcome and settled, they’ll give us the best version of themselves and I’m always a big believer in that. You know, I talk about it every single season since the boys have come in. It’s important that they quickly settle in. They feel like part of the team and then they’ll give the best version of themselves, which ultimately helps the team on the pitch.”

Callum McGregor theRangers v Celtic, 31 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: We obviously spoke numerous times during the window, and you said as well, you felt the squad needed strengthening. Is it strong enough? Did it come out the window strong enough for you?

Callum McGregor: “Yeah, I think so. I think, having seen what I’ve seen this week in training, certainly in the last week, there’s a real hunger, there’s a real desire for the guys that have come in and actually really good level as well. We’ve added sort of pace and penetration at the top end. We’ve added a top striker, albeit not played so much, but the early signs are good. He looks good, he looks hungry to be part of what we’re doing here. So I’ve actually been really encouraged with what I’ve seen in the last sort of seven, eight training sessions over the break. I believe that if we start well on Sunday and we start to gather some momentum, I think the team will start to really come together.”

Q: Does the starting well on Sunday become impacted by a planned protest for fans to come in a bit later on? Is that something you’ve discussed? How do you and the players manage that, because you’re the ones that will be running out there?

Callum McGregor: “Yeah, yeah, we haven’t really spoken about it. You know, internally as a group, I think obviously some of the boys will be aware of it. Maybe the foreign lads not so much, but I think again the only thing that we can control is, you know, when we cross the white line and we go into the pitch then it’s our intensity, our tempo that will impact the game. And obviously we would love the supporters to be in from the beginning.

“I understand the frustration and the plans (protest from the supporters at Rugby Park tomorrow) etc., which is fine. Everybody’s got their opinion of it, they’ve got their own voice and that’s absolutely fine by me. The only thing that I can control therefore, is the players on the pitch and the team and how we arrive in that game, hopefully in the best way possible. And then what we can do is try and give the supporters some energy as well by the performances by starting well on Sunday and then hopefully carrying that through and hopefully the whole thing just starts to speed up and comes to life a little bit.”

Callum McGregor and Marcelo Saracchi. theRangers v Celtic, 31 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Does that involve speaking to your teammates beforehand, do you think, just to almost make them aware then, if they’re not, of what’s happening?

Callum McGregor:  “Yeah, I’ll probably mention it tomorrow. But I don’t want to make it a bigger thing than than potentially what it already is, you know, it’s like I say, the boys are on their phones constantly. Now they probably will have seen it by this point. But again, we can’t be affected by that as in the performance because then it starts to snowball. It’s now important that we draw a line under what happened, the team now get back to functioning and attacking in the way that we want to do. We’ve now got the bodies in that will hopefully help us. The squad’s looking strong, everybody’s looking hungry. So now it’s about performance and winning games. And if we do that, then I’ve got no doubt the whole thing will come to life again.”

Continues on the next page…

Q: Callum, you’ve got a strong relationship with the fan base as the captain. Is it something you can understand, this protest? Can you understand where they’re coming from and what would be your message to these fans that they might be doing that before the game, what’s your message to them?

Callum McGregor: “Yeah, listen, obviously I can understand it. It’s the supporters that make the club, you know, what it is. It’s so special. It’s synonymous with the support that they back the team. They’re putting their hard-earned money into the club. So, of course, I understand it. They want to see the best possible team on the pitch that they can do.

“Everybody in elite sport, the players, the supporters, we all want to be at the highest level possible every single year, and that is the demand of this club. So I do understand it. I sympathise with them a little bit on it, and because it’s them who are spending the money and trying to support the team, etcetera. So my responsibility is to try and give them the best product on the pitch that we can possibly do. And for me, my focus is on that and trying to bring them happiness through the football of the team.”

theRangers v Celtic, 31 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: I don’t think there’s been a point where the Celtic fans have been as angry and as mobilised. We’re talking hundreds of fans groups with a vote of no confidence against the board. This is a difficult place the club finds itself in, isn’t it?

Callum McGregor:  “Yeah, like you said, I think it’s unprecedented in sort of recent times. The sort of level of noise and discontent within the supporters and and again, the only thing I can echo is trying to bring that back by one, giving them a team that they can be proud of on the pitch, they can back on the pitch and ultimately, that are successful and win football matches. So I don’t want to be dragged into the politics of it too much.

“Hopefully, with my influence and the senior players, then we can give them a product on the pitch that they’re happy with and can get behind and then, as alway,s we keep pushing because we always want more. We always want to be in the highest level of competition. And obviously we’re not this year, but then straight away my objective will, along with the players, is can we get back there as soon as we possibly can? So that means having a good domestic campaign and hopefully in 11 months’ time we arrive into that qualifier in better shape and ready to hopefully make the next step again.”

Q: The anger obviously stems from the transfer window. Looking at it as a fan rather than a captain, scrambling for free agents at the end of the window. That’s not how this club should be operating. Can you understand that even as a fan, never mind the captain, the club is bigger than that, surely?

Callum McGregor: “Yeah, but again, my job is to try and put my professional head on and try not to be dragged into that side of it. You know, I’ve got no doubt that if we find a goal in the Champions League, it’s not anywhere near as noisy as what it is, and that comes back on the team as well. So we all have to take collective responsibility. If we can find a way to win that match, whether it be a goal in the last five minutes, you know, with a few chances, if we go through on penalties, then being at the highest level would probably silence a lot of that.

Michael Nicholson, Chief Executive of Celtic FC looks on from the stands prior to the Premiership match between Celtic FC and St Mirren FC at Celtic Park on May 17, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“I understand there is the window,  probably didn’t go the way that the club wanted. There were some targets that we didn’t get, etcetera. And sometimes that’s life. Sometimes that happens. The important thing is there’s an acknowledgement of it, and there’s an acknowledgement to try and do better the next time. And that’s all as a captain, as a supporter, that you can hope for is that people learn the lessons from mistakes, players, coaches, managers, the board, etcetera. We all have to learn and get better. So again, from my point of view, we have to make the team as successful as we possibly can on the pitch, which will hopefully then start to bring the thing to life again.”

Callum McGregor of Celtic applauds travelling fans after the full time whistle Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

Q: Was it easy to switch off during the international break? Because that’s when the problem was, there was that gap when the noise was loud?

Callum McGregor: “Yeah, yeah, but sometimes with these things, then it’s better to just get on the pitch and, you know, hopefully in Sunday we go and we put in a good performance and win the game. And then the whole thing just starts to roll the same way as it would have done, I think like you said, the the fact there wasn’t a game for for a couple of weeks, it sort of it gave a lot more talking time to everyone and sometimes that’s not a good thing, but like I said, our focus now is trying to bring it back to let’s draw a line under it. Let’s everyone get back on the same page. The players deliver what we are paid to do, as well, is deliver performances and win football matches and then hopefully we can start to go on a run and bring it back to life again.”

Watch Callum McGregor’s media conference from Lennoxtown yesterday afternoon ahead of Celtic’s trip to Rugby Park tomorrow afternoon to play Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership…

Conor Spence

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