Celtic captain McGregor insists surprise Scotland retirement decision will pay off in the long run

Callum McGregor watched from afar as Scotland took on Poland and Portugal in a Nations League doubleheader, having been left empty-handed during the recent international break.

After making the surprising decision to retire from the national team after the 2024 European Championships at the age of 31, McGregor tried to relax as much as possible and enjoy some rest.

He flew to Spain and enjoyed the sunshine as dark clouds gathered for the Scotland team who have now won once in their last 14 games.

Some have questioned the wisdom of McGregor’s decision and whether it was premature. A naturally fit and dedicated professional who routinely played 50-plus games a season for club and country, there was a sense that he still had plenty left in him.

In the 3-2 defeat to Poland, Scotland came up against Robert Lewandowski, who celebrated his 36th birthday just a few weeks before scoring at Hampden.

Last Sunday night in Lisbon, the hearts of Scots were broken by the late winner of Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese superstar who is now just a few months away from his 40th birthday.

Callum McGregor played in all three of Scotland’s matches at Euro 2024 in Germany

The 31-year-old was a key player for Scotland manager Steve Clarke

McGregor has now turned his attention to winning more silverware with Celtic

When they travel to Zagreb next month to play Croatia, Scotland will face Luka Modric, an inexhaustible midfielder who turned 39 this week and scored in his country’s 1-0 win over Poland.

It begs the question: has McGregor started too soon? The Celtic captain, who has been named Scottish Premiership Player of the Month for August, is still at the peak of his powers. But he is happy with the decision. McGregor insists that he and Celtic will both benefit from his retirement with Scotland at the end of a long, gruelling season.

“The first four weeks of the season are pretty normal, so you don’t really need a lot of recovery time in there,” McGregor said. “But the schedule is going to be a lot busier over the next three months, with the Champions League and other competitions. So yeah, I’ll definitely benefit from it.

“Hopefully you take advantage of those two or three days off and feel rested and ready to go. I think you only get the benefit of it later in the season.

“Of course there are guys who only joined us on Friday morning, guys who have travelled even further. I know that feeling well, when you just come back from a match on Tuesday night, come here to recover and then immediately play a match at the weekend.

‘It was nice to take the edge off and have a little break, although it’s still relatively early in the season so you don’t really need a refresher at this point. It’s just nice to have a change of scenery and when you come back you’ve got that energy again.’

Asked if he had been watching the Scotland games or just trying to switch off, McGregor continued: ‘I watched a little bit of it. I probably missed the first half hour of the Poland game but when I switched it on the lads did really well.

‘I just tried to switch off and stay away from football. But football is one of those things that follows you your whole life anyway. So even if you try to switch off, there are always people who try to remind you of what’s happening.’

The Celtic captain was named Scottish Premiership Player of the Month for August

His goal against Rangers last time out secured a convincing 3-0 victory for Celtic at Parkhead

McGregor will be back in action when Celtic host Hearts this afternoon as they look to build on a good start to the season, which has seen them win four of their opening four games.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have yet to concede a single goal and won convincingly 3-0 against Rangers before the international break.

Last season, Rodgers found himself in hot water during a controversial defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle, where he made comments about refereeing standards and the use of VAR.

The Celtic manager branded referees Don Robertson and John Beaton “incompetent” and later insisted he had no regrets about the comments despite being handed a ban.

Earlier this week it was announced that the SFA’s new head of refereeing, Willie Collum, will star in a new monthly VAR review show produced by the umbrella organisation.

Announcing the move, Collum admitted that VAR had made two key decisions wrong in the opening weeks of the new season, one of which involved Celtic not being awarded a penalty against Kilmarnock.

Brendan Rodgers has praised former referee Willie Collum for improving transparency

Collum will now front a new monthly VAR review show produced by the SFA

Rodgers praised Collum for his statements and believes that the increased transparency can only be beneficial for all involved.

“I felt at the time it was a penalty but when I spoke to Willie on Monday I have to say he was very, very clear about what he thought about it,” Rodgers said.

‘That can only be applauded. I think transparency is exactly what we want.

‘His experience will help and I know he’s trying to set up an educational program because there aren’t many top referees here, and I say that in the nicest way.

“Guys like Willie and others who have experience will help those guys come through. I thought it was open and honest, but he can’t do that every weekend.

“Your phone lines would be really busy! He can do it as they plan, like every month or so. I thought it was good and fair and it will help the referees raise their standards and level.”