Callum McGregor had a stinker for Celtic on Sunday. There’s no escaping it. Getting nutmegged and then sent off inside half an hour will have given him heebie jeebies this week.
But it had to happen at some point.
You could use one hand to count the other off days the Celtic man has had in the last five years and there will be enough fingers left for a Harvey Smith salute.
Yet it still might be time for McGregor to use the whole hand and wave goodbye to Celtic.
Now hold on a minute, this isn’t a baby out with the bath water job like a lot of Hoops fans have been doing this week when calling for a complete clean out.
Any incoming Parkhead boss – whether it’s Eddie Howe or Eddie Munster – will be looking to build a team around the midfielder.
It’s more the case for the player himself.
McGregor turns 28 in June. He’s approaching his peak in terms of his own ability and his market value with the time left on his contract.
This could be the time for Celtic to cash in and for him to test himself at the top level.
There’s absolutely no doubt he can crack it in the English Premier League. Ask Brendan Rodgers.
The Leicester City gaffer has tried to tempt him to follow him to the Foxes a couple of times already and don’t be surprised if he comes back in again this summer.
McGregor will have seen the likes of Stuart Armstrong and John McGinn flourish down south. Kieran Tierney as well. They’ve made megabucks in the process and become better players in the process.
He’s every bit as good as those two – if not even better.
Sure, McGregor’s not had his best season for Celtic this year. There’s very few at Parkhead who’d get pass marks in a campaign where the win percentage since the Ferencvaros defeat in the Champions League qualifiers has hovered around 50 percent.
But an off season doesn’t make him a bad player. Far from it.
McGregor has played an incredible 290 games in five seasons for club and country and it’s a mark of his ability the off days stand out like a sore thumb.
And this year in particular he must have been left wondering where the heck he was playing.
Modern coaches like to talk about positions in terms of numbers. There’s fours, sixes, eights and 10s, 11s and 7s wide, No. 9s up top.
McGregor must have felt like a bingo caller at times this year. Celtic have tried more formations than the Red Arrows this term, it’s been 3-5-2 one week, 4-4-2 the next, 4-2-3-1 the following. McGregor is more adaptable than anyone but he’s not a contortionist.
He’s also been asked to do a lot of the running with Scott Brown ticking towards 36 and others like David Turnbull, Ryan Christie and Tom Rogic allowed to roam more freely.
It’s a wonder he’s not keeled over.
If he does choose to stay he’s a natural replacement for Brown as skipper. He’s a different type of character but he’d still excel in the role. He trains like a bear and plays like a demon. The guy’s a proven winner.
But this is a crossroads for the club and a whack of the players and it’s time to take the road south.
Celtic can still command £20m plus for his services and that’s a pretty penny for a kid that came through the ranks as a neat and tidy winger and turned in to a midfield powerhouse.
They’ve already been guilty of holding on to players too long and then seeing fortunes go down the drain.
Dedryck Boyata should have been flogged when there was £9m on the table but instead went for nowt. Odsonne Edouard would have been worth £30m last summer but Celtic will be lucky to wash their face when he goes in a couple of weeks.
Kris Ajer and Ryan Christie’s contract situations have knocked millions off their values.
The entire Celtic model is built on cashing in when the time is right – and like it or not, that time is now for McGregor as well as the rest.
Where would it leave the club and the team? No doubt with an even tougher task when they already face a mammoth refurb this summer.
That still doesn’t mean it’s not time for McGregor to fly the nest. When the big money bid comes in, both parties should give it the thumbs up.
