Callum McGregor on the way Brendan Rodgers ‘teaches football’

The Celtic Star

·27 January 2025

Callum McGregor on the way Brendan Rodgers ‘teaches football’

Callum McGregor: Brendan Rodgers ‘makes you feel a million dollars when you walk on to the pitch’…

Brendan Rodgers and Callum McGregor with the Premier Sports Cup after the victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

Since returning to Celtic in the summer of 2023, Rodgers has won three domestic trophies as Hoops boss with skipper Callum McGregor being the focal point of that unwavering success.

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Callum McGregor during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

Calmac explained: “He [Rodgers] makes you feel like a million dollars when you walk on to the pitch. He has helped me think about football in a different way. You start to understand the game, how it’s pieced together and how it should look with the ball, without the ball.”

‘When you see football like that it becomes so simple’

“When you see football like that it becomes so simple, and you think: How did I not know this before? [Europe] is something we spoke about. It’s nice when you get nights like Wednesday [beating Young Boys] where you kind of cross a little finish line and reach an objective.”

Arne Engels & Brendan Rodgers during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

As stated in Sunday Times the 31 year-old midfielder said: “He has more experience, he knows his way around the building. So you probably get a bit more relaxed version of him this time around, but he’s still so demanding on the players.

“One thing he does is simplify the game. He makes it really, really simple for players. Everyone’s in the right position and then it frees players up to make good decisions and bring their own personality to the game. When he came back, I was excited for the young lads because I was one of them first time he was here and he opened my eyes.”

‘The way he teaches football’

McGregor hailed Rodgers’ tactical element to his management style and the ways in which the Irishman goes into fine detail of the way he expects his team to train and play.

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, and staff, enter the pitch prior to the UEFA Champions League match between GNK Dinamo and Celtic FC at Stadion Maksimir on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

The Celtic skipper outlined: “When he came back, he did a big presentation and then gave us a physical copy of that. It’s nice to have that reminder you can look at and reference exactly where he wants the team to be at certain points. It’s another example of the way he teaches football.”

Conor Spence