CALLUM MCGREGOR’S phone was pinging like a cabinet minister’s test and trace app yesterday, and amid the congratulations on officially being named Celtic’s club captain, one particular image was popping up time and time again.

The photo, which origianlly appeared on website The CelticWiki back in September 2008, shows McGregor as a ball boy in the background as Jan Venegoor of Hesselink, Scott McDonald and Aidan McGeady celebrate a goal against Aberdeen in a 3-2 win at Celtic Park.

That fresh-faced youngster punching the air in delight is now the 31st Celtic captain, and he is as delighted now as he would have been stunned then to have been told the news.

“Probably at that moment you are a million miles away from that,” McGregor said. “You are enjoying the game.

“You obviously have that aspiration to get into the first team, make your debut, and that will be a nice picture to look back on. I’ll probably have been sent it about a million times when I get a chance to look at my phone.

“It’s a nice moment to come full circle. It’s great when young guys come into the team and make a name for themselves.

“I’ve managed to make that next step to being one of the club captains, and it’s such a proud moment for me, my family and for everyone connected to me.

“I’ll enjoy it, but I know there’s a lot of work to be done as well.

“One thing is for sure, I will give my absolute everything to the club and try to make it successful.

“It’s a massive honour to be named club captain and go into an elite group of players who have captained the club before.

“It is a really proud moment for myself, my family and everyone that’s connected with me.”

The then 15-year-old McGregor would scarcely have believed what he would go on to achieve at Celtic, but at 28 and having been vice-captain last season, it wasn’t exactly a major surprise to be given the honour following Scott Brown’s departure.

Though, new manager Ange Postecoglou kept him waiting as he assessed McGregor’s credentials and his influence around the squad.

“I was trying not to think about it too much,” he said. “Off the back of the Euros I had a few days off and then when you come back to work, and when you meet new people in football you just want to impress them and have people say good things about you. That was my only focus coming back in.

“Everyone knows the situation the club’s in; a new era, a transition. So I was just trying to come back in and be positive, and try and impress the new manager as much as I could and look forward to the challenge.

“I probably had half an idea in my head that it might have happened but I was just trying to focus on getting back fit and pushing hard in pre-season, and obviously getting to know the manager.”

McGregor knows how big the shoes he has to fill, and that it would be extremely difficult to replace a skipper like Brown. The solution? Don’t try to.

“I think every Celtic captain that’s ever been has been different in terms of personality, the way they lead,” he said.

“They’ve had different qualities about them as well and I’ve had the chance to learn off one of the best, one of the most successful, so I have to take that education and put my own stamp on it as well.

“The club’s going through a transition stage and it’s not going to be all plain sailing. But if we have good people here that are desperate to get it right, and desperate to work as hard as they possibly can to give the club success then I don’t think we’ll be too far away.

“That’s my sole focus now to get to work and build something here for this football club.”

The fact that McGregor sprinkles the conversation liberally with the term ‘transition’ is notable, with the new Celtic skipper fully cognisant of the difficulties they may face at this early stage of Postecoglou’s reign. Particularly in tonight’s Champions League qualifier against FC Midtjylland, which has come around a good way too soon for anyone at the club’s liking.

“I don’t think it’s any big secret that we’re in a bit of a transition,” he said. “There’s a new chief executive, a new manager, some players have left.

“So, we know it’s going to be a big challenge, and like any transition, it’s never always going to be plain sailing.

“There will be some bumps in the road, but as long as we’ve got good people with good ideas, good direction and good discipline, then we’ll get there.

“It’s pretty obvious that we need a few players, and then also, the guys who are here have to step up and take responsibility as a group of players.

“We have enough experience in there to be successful, then it’s about adding the right type with the right quality to be successful at this club.

“There’s nothing wrong with having hope and believing you can achieve these things.

“Expectation is a different thing as well on top of that, but we as players can only give 100 percent to the club and the cause and do what the manager asks us to do.”