CALLUM McGREGOR has warned his Celtic team-mates to shape up or suffer the consequences as the champions stumble towards the season’s finishing line.
The Hoops blew the ideal opportunity to seal their fourth successive title at Parkhead on Saturday when they collapsed to an unacceptable 1-0 loss to rock-bottom St Johnstone in Perth at the weekend.
Brendan Rodgers’ men went into the encounter knowing that a win would set up the game in Paradise against Kilmarnock on Saturday where they could clinch their thirteenth crown in 14 years.
IT TAKES TWO…Callum McGregor and Brendan Rodgers discuss tactics on the touchline.
However, they conceded a goal in only four minutes – a worrying trait since the turn of the year – and then proceeded to miss a sequence of wonderful chances to get the equaliser and go on achieve the anticipated three points against opponents they decimated earlier in the campaign when they romped to a 6-0 triumph at the same venue.
Reo Hatate clattered the woodwork with a ferocious effort 10 minutes after the interval, but the Japanese ace was among the misfiring brigade along with Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest.
Rodgers ripped into his “timid” players after the side’s fourth league loss of 2025, but he spared McGregor from the scathing criticism of his lacklustre squad.
MISS…a dithering Nicolas Kuhn is robbed by a St Johnstone challenge from almost under the crossbar.
Celtic, with a 13-point advantage, can still win the championship at the weekend if they overcome the Rugby Park visitors and nearest challengers from Ibrox lose to Aberdeen at Pittodrie 24 hours later.
But the experienced club captain wants to do things in style and said: “We have to shake out of it.
“Football’s got a funny way of keeping you honest. Everybody is talking, you hear the noise of when are you going to win the league, but we have to perform to make sure we get over the line.
“We’ve put ourselves in an unbelievable position with so many games to go.
“People then start thinking it’s inevitable that you’re just going to turn up and it’s going to happen. That’s the bit where we give away the goal and then, because of the way the game turns out, it’s not a good look.
“So, we have to snap out of that straight away. And next week we have to perform better for 90 minutes, get the win and then see where that takes us.
“It’s difficult to get over the line when you’re so close and obviously there’s a fair margin in the points difference, but we still have to be doing everything we can to sprint over the line rather than just waiting for it to happen.”
MISS…Reo Hatate is grounded after firing wildly over the crossbar.
The Hoops claimed the Premier Sports League Cup in December following their dramatic penalty-kick shoot-out success over the Ibrox club, then managed by Philippe Clement, the 55th flag is on its way and Celtic can set up a grand finale to the crusade if they take care of business when they face their Sunday conquerors in the Scottish Cup semi-final a fortnight on Sunday.
That would present the perfect opportunity to face Aberdeen or Hearts in the silverware showpiece at Hampden on Saturday May 24 where Rodgers’ side could cement a world record ninth treble.
McGregor, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “It’s our job to try and make sure that that we are professional and we do the job that’s in front of us.
“And then we can enjoy it once we’ve actually crossed the line
“But there’s still a lot of football to be played. There’s a tough semi-final. You saw that on Sunday. It’s the perfect example.
“So, if we’re going to take anything from the game, then we have to be razor sharp in the next five, six, seven weeks to make sure we end up where we think we will, but we have got to do that.”
MISS…James Forrest is about to fire his close-range shot straight at keeper Andy Fisher.
The champions have conceded early goals in their quartet of Premiership losses this year – as CQN underlined yesterday – and McGregor also warned about not being switched on right from the start.
The club’s 31-year-old onfield leader added: “It’s the same message all the time. We’re trying to drill that into the players and the team.
“When you don’t start well, then the idea of the game becomes a little bit cloudy. We are at our best when we are calm, play the system and we’re attacking the right spaces.
“But when you go one down so early, you’re then chasing it. We have to cut out those little bits and make the game easier for ourselves.”
