Four friendlies into the season and Celtic have still to put Callum McGregor up to speak to the media. Or Arne Engels.
Martin O’Neill was asked about the future of his captain in Portugal and had still to have a discussion with the midfielder.
The Albufeira Four all nodded and moved on, no follow up question. No timeline. Sangria anyone?
After the draw with Middlesbrough last week O’Neill was asked if he had got round to that chat with McGregor.
Always the pivot, O’Neill returned to the boozy late night sessions with the lads in the Algarve.
Real thigh slapping stuff as O’Neill’s appreciative younger audience was again deflected off the scent.
CELTIC AND THEIR SHRINKING MEDIA POOL
As well as having a diminishing pool of first team players Celtic have very few voices to be put up for media conferences.
Vil Sinisalo was selected to preview the Middlesbrough match last week.
Camilo Duran, via an interpreter, was put up on Thursday to preview the AC Milan match. Apparently it was his official unveiling as a Celtic player. Signed on July 10.
After the draw with Milan it was back to Sinisalo to face the questions. No sign of McGregor or Engels. That would be too awkward.
O’Neill was light on the gags this week. Less of the funny asides.
Transfer activity remains vague. At lunchtime the messengers got the good news about Kasper Hogh.
O’Neill spoke positively about the incoming striker. Strangely when asked if it would be a record club fee he asked if it would be more than paid for Nicolas Kuhn. Yes. Very much so. Kuhn joined from Rapid Vienna in January 2024 for £3-3.5m. Hogh will cost three times as much.
BUT WHAT ABOUT MCGREGOR?
No one asked the Celtic boss about his talks with McGregor. Or anyone else following Daizen Maeda out the door.
Towards the end of last season McGregor spoke about his hope for the club matching his ambitions.
Since then Maeda, Marcelo Saracchi and Kelechi Iheanacjo have left. Since he signed his contract extension in 2023 McGregor has watched Matt O’Riley, Kyogo Furuhashi, Adam Idah and Kuhn leave without any attempt at replacing them.
He watched Brendan Rodgers resign then had Wilfried Nancy imposed as manager.
And still Michael Nicholson has shown no sign of changing his ways. A Champions League Play Off looms. McGregor knows the script. And what lies in store if Celtic somehow make it to the 36 team group stage.
The same media audience will be back again this weekend to preview the SPFL opener against Dundee.
At virtually every club their skipper will be sent out to deliver an upbeat rallying cry for the new campaign.
If McGregor is again posted missing it can only be assumed that the influential captain has been added to the lengthy For Sale list.
