Callum McGregor

How beneficial has the captain's retirement from international football been?

Callum McGregor is in a population of one.

In terms of the specifics of his role and his style of play, there are no other current or past players at Celtic against whom to benchmark him.

He is the tempo setter, the orchestrator, the glue, the back and forward shuttler. He isn’t a traditional number six. He does not screen the defence, he does not destroy attacks, he does not man-mark the opposition trequarista. He isn’t a box-to-box machine, nor does he crash the opposition penalty area often these days. He did not replace Scott Brown stylistically or functionally. He does not replicate the deep-lying metronomic Nir Bitton.

We can only compare him to himself.

I have been signposting natural age-based decline for a couple of seasons. This campaign saw another 3879 minutes on the clock. Including his stint at Notts County and international duty, he has made 622 senior appearances at a mere 31 years of age. He doesn’t miss many games and is rarely substituted.

He retired from international football in 2024. This spared him around 10 additional matches this season, along with the attendant travelling.

Has there been a dividend for Celtic?

Note that time frames per chart will vary according to data availability.