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By PAUL FORSYTH AND KENNY STILL Published: 12: 00 AEDT, 2 April 2025 | Updated: 12: 00 AEDT, 2 April 2025 View comments Some footballers are so humble and selfless in the way they go about their work, so consistently able to perform at a high level, that their importance to the team is taken for granted. If we didn’t know any better, that might be true of the Celtic captain, Callum Mc Gregor, who returned from injury to play a key role in his team’s 3-0 victory against Hearts on Saturday. Not for a minute does anyone associated with Celtic play down Mc Gregor’s talent, but he is one of those influential performers whose inestimable value to the side is most keenly felt when he is absent from it. He was sorely missed in the derby defeat by Rangers, when Celtic were unusually nervous at the back, unable to connect with the midfield and, for long spells, struggling to progress through the thirds. How different they were on Saturday with Mc Gregor in the ranks. He sets the tempo and gives Celtic rhythm. Not only is he always available to his goalkeeper and his central defenders, he takes opponents where they don’t want to go and creates space. Captain Callum Mc Gregor has been at Celtic since 2013 Brendan Rodgers' side have struggled whenever Mc Gregor is out of the team This season, he has added another dimension to their attack with nine goals and an eye for the game-changing pass. Without his perfectly-weighted through ball, Daizen Maeda would not have scored his opener against Hearts. All of which makes you wonder how Celtic will fare without Mc Gregor when the day comes for him to retire. He will be 32 in June. His contract does not expire until 2028, but playing like he does every week for the next three years is a lot to ask. As Scotland have already discovered, it isn’t easy to replace Mc Gregor. It will be even harder for Celtic, to whom he has dedicated his career. He knows the club inside out, as well as the demands of their supporters and what it takes to play for them. No matter how much money the club have to spend in the transfer market, they won’t be able to buy that kind of package. Coast is clear for Celtic to coast to title - and Hampden final While Brendan Rodgers will continue to insist that there are no easy games, their next three are as close it gets to a formality in the upper reaches of Scottish football. Either side of a home match against Kilmarnock, who haven’t won on the road since October, are two clashes with St Johnstone — one in the Premiership this Sunday, the other in the Scottish Cup semi-final. With every respect to the Perth club, there is about as much chance of them pulling off an upset as there is of the River Tay running dry, so poor is their record against Celtic in recent years. Simo Valakari's St Johnstone have lost 6-0 and 4-0 to Celtic this season In fact, Celtic have won 27 of their last 31 matches against St Johnstone. The other four were draws. The cumulative scoreline over that period is 94-14. This season alone, they have beaten Simo Valakari’s side 6-0 and 4-0. The last time Celtic lost to St Johnstone was at Mc Diarmid Park in May 2016, when Leigh Griffiths scored his 40th of the season in a 2-1 defeat. It was a result that secured fourth place for the home side. This season, Valakari’s side are rock bottom of the Premiership, five points adrift of second-bottom Dundee and yet to beat any of the teams in the top six, never mind the league’s runaway leaders. As Celtic seek to close in on a potential treble, they could hardly have asked for a more helpful sequence of games. Rodgers hasn't given up on Holm. .. can he reignite his career on loan at Los Angeles? Celtic Confidential reported recently how one-time Parkhead transfer target Mateusz Bogusz was carving out a career in the Mexican top flight after making a big-money move from Los Angeles FC to Cruz Azul, where he now lines up alongside former Hoops striker Giorgos Giakoumakis. Well, the Celtic links don’t end there, as the man brought in to replace Bogusz at the MLS outfit was none other than Norwegian midfielder Odin Thiago Holm. Odin Thiago Holm has failed to impress since signing for Celtic in 2023 Odin Thiago Holm (right) in action for Los Angeles FC against San Diego FC The 22-year-old agreed a season-long loan with LAFC but was forced to wait to make his debut due to the ongoing calf problems that blighted most of his time in Glasgow. However, Holm has come off the bench in his club’s last two matches and is ready to finally make a mark in California after a frustrating two years of limited action. The former Valerenga man has featured only 16 times for Celtic, predominantly in the first half of last season before falling out of favour and then succumbing to injury. Having once featured on a ‘next generation’ talent list alongside the likes of Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Xavi Simons, Holm clearly has bags of potential. The hope now is that he can start to show it alongside illustrious team-mates such as Olivier Giroud, Hugo Lloris and Cengiz Under at Los Angeles. Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers still harbours hopes that Holm can have a future at Celtic, where there will one day be a need to find a successor to Callum Mc Gregor. A starring role at the home of Hollywood would be a good way for Holm to audition for the part. Back-up Bain could yet add to his 'highlights' reel at Celtic Should any unforeseen circumstances afflict stand-in goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo and interrupt his long-awaited stint between the sticks for Celtic, then colourful times will await if the gloves fall to the next man in line. Scott Bain is now into his eighth season at Celtic but has spent the latter half of that behind the likes of Joe Hart, Kasper Schmeichel, Benjamin Siegrist and Sinisalo in the pecking order. Goalkeeper Scott Bain has been at Celtic since 2018 but has only played 78 games Viljami Sinisalo kept a clean sheet in Saturday's 3-0 win over Hearts With Schmeichel now sidelined for potentially the rest of the season, and Sinisalo handed a chance to shine following his summer arrival from Aston Villa, Bain is back on the bench on matchday, one injury or red card away from clocking up his 79th outing for the Parkhead club. If his more recent appearances are anything to go by, Celtic fans will be hoping that’s as close to the action as he gets. Since making 23 appearances under Neil Lennon in Celtic’s ill-fated 2020/21 season, when the club missed out on 10 in a row to Steven Gerrard’s Rangers, Bain has been restricted to just eight appearances. Of those eight, three have ended in defeat and one resulted in a draw. One of four victories saw Bain concede an own goal in a 3-2 Champions League win over Real Betis and another was a two-minute walk-on cameo designed to afford Hart an emotional Parkhead send-off on his final appearance. The only constants have been shaky moments, frayed nerves and continual question marks, with his display in a 4-2 defeat to Hibs at the end of Ange Postecoglou’s second season seeing Bain badly at fault for the Leith side’s third and fourth goals. Since then, his only outings have been off the bench in a 3-0 win over Livingston last season after Hart was red-carded for a first-half foul on Mo Sangare, then deputising in the subsequent — and chaotic — 2-1 win over Motherwell while the Englishman served his suspension, then that brief sighting during Hart’s emotional send-off before being reduced to the role of third man this season. With his contract running until next summer, though, there is time yet for Bain to add another blooper or two should he get the opportunity. Sadiku's Celtic side are cast adrift in SWPL title race Elena Sadiku is up against it in her quest to prevent a trophyless season for Celtic’s women, whose campaign is in danger of unravelling. Already out of the two cups, they are now nine points behind leaders Hibs in the SWPL after a 2-1 defeat by Glasgow City last Friday night. In a tight game at New Douglas Park, Celtic’s Saoirse Noonan cancelled out Brenna Lovera’s opener before Kimberly Smith got a winner with just four minutes left. Elena Sadiku's Celtic side have won only one of their last six games It was tough on Celtic, who had taken the game to their opponents in the second half, but it extends a poor run of form that has come at exactly the wrong time. Three straight defeats, no wins in four, one win in six: whatever way you look at it, it has been a frustrating spell for Sadiku and her players who won the title last season. There is a fine line between success and failure in this fiercely-competitive title race. Sadiku’s team need to get on the other side of it, starting with their next game, against Rangers a week on Sunday. ‘It just feels like we need some luck, like we need something just to give us something in terms of margins, ’ said Sadiku. ‘It’s never beyond our reach. I think it’s still eight games left, there’s 24 points to play for. I said to the girls, we have an international break now. We’re going to fight hard because we can’t surrender. ‘We need to keep going and we need to keep pushing hard and that’s what exactly we’re going to do against Rangers. We’re going to show up as a team again and we’re going to fight really hard for those three points. ’
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