McGregor told ‘respectful’ Clarke of Scotland decision in one call

Celtic skipper Callum McGregor revealed his talks with Steve Clarke over his international retirement were restricted to one phone call as the Scotland manager accepted his decision.

The 31-year-old announced he was calling time on his Scotland career at 63 caps earlier this month after informing Clarke.

“We just had the one chat and he was respectful to what I was giving him on the phone and the chat that we had,” McGregor said.

“We’re both experienced people, he’s an experienced manager and I’m an experienced player.

“I try not to be too high maintenance as a player. So when I gave him my thoughts then he was happy to respect that.

“I’ve got an enormous amount of respect for Steve and what he’s done for the national team and what he’s done for my national team career as well.”

McGregor’s last three caps came at Euro 2024 but he had not gone into the tournament with the feeling that it would be his Scotland swansong.

“It was just a decision I made after it,” the midfielder said. “Like I said, you just get a gut feeling for these things and you’ve just got to trust your instinct. So that’s why I made the decision.

“Obviously there was a lot of back and forth and having chats with people that matter and you’re mulling it over and all these things. Once you arrive at the decision and you make the call then at that point it’s done.”

McGregor will have some rare time off during the international break in early September, when Scotland start their Nations League campaign with games against Poland and Portugal.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers recently stated that McGregor rarely switches off from football even on days off so the break could be a different experience for someone who played more minutes than any other footballer in the world in the 2018-19 season, and played every game for club and country in 2023.

“I’ve not made any plans yet,” McGregor said ahead of Sunday’s trip to face St Mirren. “Obviously, we’ve got two games before then that need full attention. Of course it will be slightly different, I’ll probably get a bit of time off so I’ll wait to see what I’m going to do with that.

“I’ll probably be thinking about the first game back, that’s just the way that I’m wired. I’ll try and enjoy it, try and take a few days off and see what I get up to.

“But we’re only at the start of the season so there’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of thought process in terms of where we want to get to so for sure that will be at the forefront of my mind.”