How Long Have We Really Got Left With McGregor? Celtic’s Number Six Succession Plan Can’t Wait Any Longer

For years, this was never a question we had to ask.

Callum McGregor was just there.

Every week. Every big game. Every moment that mattered.

The heartbeat of the midfield. The one who never tired and never panicked.

And because he was always there, we stopped planning for the day he wouldn’t be.

But last season showed we need to start planning.

How Long Can He Actually Keep This Up?

Let’s be honest about where he is.

McGregor is slowing down.

His professionalism is still fantastic, and his reading of the game is still good.

He still sees the pass two seconds before anyone else on the pitch does.

But intelligence isn’t the same thing as legs.

And the number six role he plays – covers every blade of grass, screens the defence, then carries it forward.

For me, the brain has years left in it.

The legs? They’ve already started to go.

We’re Far Too Reliant On Him – And We Know It

For years we have built an entire midfield identity around one man.

Take him out, and the whole thing wobbles.

We saw it every time he was missing last season.

The shape went. The control went. The calm went.

That’s not a compliment to McGregor.

That’s a warning about everyone else.

Because a club our size should never be one hamstring away from losing its entire midfield structure.

And right now, that’s exactly what we are.

So Who Actually Replaces Him?

This is where it gets uncomfortable.

Because the honest answer is… nobody. Not naturally. Not yet.

There’s talk of pushing Colby Donovan into the six.

And I get it – the lad’s composed, he’s tidy, he doesn’t hide.

But asking a young player to inherit that role is asking him to replace influence, not just a position.

Sean McArdle is another name people throw out.

He did well in a few games last year but I haven’t heard much since his loan to partick thistle.

Then there’s Luke McCowan.

Could be be a six? He played there last season against them lot but was incredibly poor.

For me, none of them are McGregor.

And that’s not their fault. That’s the point.

You don’t replace a player like that with a signing.

You replace him with a plan.

One we should have started two years ago.

The Idea That Might Actually Work – Move Him Forward

Here’s the angle I keep coming back to.

What if we stop trying to replace McGregor at the six…

And instead protect him by moving him up?

Push him into the eight. Give him a freer role.

Let the legs do less and let the brain do more.

Other clubs have done exactly this.

McGregor pulling strings in the final third, with a proper six doing the running behind him?

For me, that’s the version of Celtic that gets two or three more seasons out of him at the top level.

This Is A Nicholson Job – And He Can’t Duck It

None of this happens by accident.

Succession planning costs money, foresight and a board willing to act before there’s a crisis.

So far, Michael Nicholson and co. have a habit of waiting until the house is on fire before reaching for the hose – and even then, checking whether the hose is in budget.

A real six-one bought now, blooded alongside McGregor for a season – is the single most important piece of business we could do this summer.

Not a panic buy in 2028 when the captain finally slows down.

One now. Learning from him while he’s still here to teach.

Because the most valuable thing McGregor has left to give us might not be his own performances.

It might be the season he spends showing the next one how it’s done.

“He’s still good” and “we have a plan” are two completely different sentences.

Right now, we only have one of them.

Key Takeaways

• McGregor’s reading of the game is as sharp as ever – the question is whether the body can keep up with the demands of the six role for another two or three seasons.
• Celtic are dangerously reliant on him. The shape, the control, the calm – all of it disappears when he’s missing.
• There is no natural successor in the squad. Donovan, McArdle and McCowan all have doubts – not about quality, but about influence.
• Moving him into a freer eight role could extend his career by years. Modric, Iniesta, Scholes – the template is there.
• Nicholson needs to buy a genuine six this summer and blood him alongside McGregor now, not in a panic two years from now.