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PAUL LAMBERT is backing Callum McGregor to step into the Celtic captain’s role and succeed like Paul McStay in leading “by example”.
Scotland ace McGregor is believed to be the favourite for the vacant Hoops’ captaincy after the departure of Scott Brown to Aberdeen.
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The 28-year-old will join up with Celtic for pre-season training after a break following his exploits at Euro 2020 with the national team.
New Parkhead boss Ange Postecoglou took his first training session yesterday but the likes of McGregor, his fellow Scotland stars and other players who had international duties like Odsonne Edouard, won’t be back for another week or so.
When they do return Postecoglou will have a decision to make on who takes the armband over from Broony.
While Brown was known for his in-your-face, win-at-all-costs mentality, Lambert reckons Celtic’s captain doesn’t have to fit that role.
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Lambert pointed to Hoops legend Paul McStay as the perfect example of a more quiet player who nevertheless had full respect from his teammates.
McGregor has averaged a total of 52 games played per season at Celtic since the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
At the end of 2018-19 he had racked up more minutes that ANYONE in world football and in December this year he was in the top ten for most minutes played.
For Lambert, who captained Celtic himself, that experience is more important than the ability to dress down someone.
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He said: “You don’t need to be an aggressive player or personality for that role. If your ability is high, people tend to rate you and there is a lot of respect there.
“Paul McStay was a famous captain. The word legend gets bandied about too often but he was. He was brilliant. Perhaps he was a quieter guy, but you can bet Paul had a bit of devilment in him on the pitch. All top players have it.
“In McStay, you are talking about a proper captain. Maybe in the wrong era in terms of not winning what his ability should have let him win. But I put him up there in the class with some outstanding Celtic captains.
“I played with guys at Borussia Dortmund who had it. Matthias Sammer, Paulo Sousa, Michael Zorc.
“All of those guys were not shouters. But they were world-class players and led by example.
“At Celtic, we had strong guys and big characters, but we were never really aggressive towards each other.
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“Of course, people would get singled out if things weren’t going well and people hadn’t done their jobs, but it’s ability that earns you respect above all else if you have that in your dressing room.
“It’s important that the new guys who can come into the club have respect for him and I’d imagine that would be a given.
“Callum is at an age now where he might not even have reached his peak, but the responsibility becomes more on him all of the time because he’s not classed as a young player anymore and he’s experienced.
“What you see is a good midfielder who can do most things and it’s important for Celtic to keep a hold of him.
“There are maybe defensive aspects which could be improved upon in certain situations but he can do the majority of important things that you want to see in a midfielder.
“Pass it, keep the ball and, as you saw against Croatia and for Celtic many times, score an important goal at a crucial time.
“One thing about being the captain of Celtic is that you have that responsibility on your shoulders.
“Callum already has experience of leading the group when Scott wasn’t playing, so he’ll know the responsibility and he knows the club.”
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