Euro 2024 has been a bit of a damp squib for the Celtic fans after watching Scotland get beat by Germany 5-1.
There was genuine excitement about the thought of seeing Celtic’s quartet of Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Anthony Ralston and Greg Taylor coming up against the likes of Germany, Switzerland and Hungary.
The Celtic four are part of a Scotland side that has been one of the best that’s been seen in a generation and hopes were high that Steve Clarke‘s side could make it out of the group stages for the time in Scotland’s history.
Whilst that is still possible, the defeat to Germany tempered the nation’s expectations and levied unfair criticism solely towards Celtic captain, Callum McGregor.
Peter Grant fuming with ‘poor’ criticism of McGregor
After former Rangers manager, Graeme Souness appeared to single out McGregor for the Scotland defeat, Peter Grant was having none of it.
The former Celtic hero was fuming and expertly explained why the criticism aimed at McGregor was wrong.
Grant said [The Go Radio Football Show], “I’d have put John McGinn closer to the front. I know they’d done that later on with Christie. I thought it was too late then.
“I thought we should have been more direct because we tried to play out, we weren’t good enough.
“I was listening to people criticising Callum McGregor. You could have been Pirlo playing in the middle of the pitch and you wouldn’t have got a touch of the ball.
“Yes, I know the boy’s danced by him inside the box, which is very difficult when you are running at 100 miles an hour to stop.
“Yes, you’re supposed to adjust your feet and move your feet. Yes, we understand that. That sometimes happens in the moments in the game. People have danced by me at times on the edge of the box. So I know what it’s like.
“And you have seen it later with top-quality players doing that. But to blame him for not getting on the ball. I mean, the distribution from the back and beyond was really, really poor.”
No one is denying that McGregor struggled in the opening group game and as Grant pointed out, Germany was so good that even the best players in the world would have struggled against the host nation.
Criticism, when warranted, must be balanced and fair. And when it was aimed solely at McGregor that’s when a lot of Celtic fans took umbrage to Souness’ comments.
Let’s hope the Celtic captain uses those words to inspire himself to a good performance and a win against the Swiss to boost Scotland’s hopes of getting out of the group tonight.