As Callum McGregor celebrates being awarded the captaincy of his boyhood hero’s, he recounts the day when he made his debut for the Hoops.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, McGregor thanks the manager that gave him his debut and also revealed that Brendan Rodgers admitted that the same man actually set him up for his record breaking Invincibles season, “Ronnie gave me my debut at Celtic. I’m forever grateful for that day.
“To have the opportunity to kick on and play for Celtic’s first team, that’s all you ever want to do when you’re a kid, when you’re a ball boy, when you’re watching it, when your moment comes, you put on the hoops and and play for the first team.
“I remember when Brendan came he said that Ronnie placed the building blocks, the base level stuff for him.
“And he then put his own spin on it. But he (Ronnie) actually put a lot of the building blocks in place and I don’t think he gets as much credit as he deserves.”
When Ronnie took over from Neil Lennon, he bemoaned the lack of fitness in the squad and the dietary regime the Northern Irishman left behind and Delia undertook a massive overhaul of of the behind the scenes training and match day preparations to increase the professionalism and fitness of the players.
Although not popular at the time amongst some of the clubs most senior players, Brendan Rodgers credits Delia for laying the foundations that allowed him to build and create the footballing philosophy that helped him create history with the Treble winning Invicibiles.