Celtic raise intrigue over identity of next Celtic captain

Callum McGregor celebrating after his goal in the 3-1 defeat to Croatia. New Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou says he will have talks with the player over the captaincy but stopped short of saying the midfielder had been ear-marked for the role. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou says he has yet to make a decision on who will succeed Scott Brown as club captain, with the 55-year-old notably stopping short of presenting Callum McGregor as a shoe-in for the role.

Brown’s move to Aberdeen was expected to see the Scotland midfielder, and hitherto vice-captain, handed the armband. However, Postecoglou, who intimated that the successor to Brown – 11 years in the role – will come from “within”, will look to discuss with McGregor before arriving at a decision. The 28-year-old’s exploits in Euro 2020 will mean he is unlikely to join up with the squad before the head to their 10-day training camp in Wales next Monday, suggesting the issue will not be settled in the short-term.

“Scott Brown was a tremendous influence on and off the field,” Postecoglou said. ‘I haven’t met him, I’ve just watched from afar, and being at the club the way people talk about him he was an unbelievable leader. So with him gone there is a vacuum. It’s about seeing now whether there is somebody within the club who wants to step up. It’s often difficult when you have such a powerful figure there. Others maybe don’t feel comfortable expressing themselves, as much – out of respect more than anything else.

‘Obviously with me coming in things will change in the way we train and some of the values we put across. If there’s somebody within the club – my instincts are it will be within the club – that someone will step up. I have only had limited experience of Callum but I watched him live and I thought he had a tremendous tournament, irrespective of his goal [against Croatia]. He grew into the tournament. Even in that last game, he was in the middle of everything, he really wanted to be involved and take a leadership role.

‘He is certainly one that I will sit down and chat to. He has a great history around the club and I kind of think he will come back really motivated, really wanting to take this club up. He is definitely one of the people I will be looking to for leadership, irrespective of whether he is captain or not. I see him as a very influential figure for sure.”

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