Celtic skipper Callum McGregor's message for protesting fans: 'There's been a lot of negativity, change and disruption ... but this club is better when everyone is together'

Celtic skipper Callum McGregor’s dramatic late winner against St Mirren on Saturday night went some way to easing the pain that has been felt around Parkhead this season.

Now he has issued a plea for peace after telling protesting fans the team have a better chance of achieving success if everyone associated with the club is pulling in the same direction.

Coming the day after the AGM was cut short due to supporters disrupting proceedings with grievances against the board, the trip to Paisley saw numerous protests continue against the club’s directors.

McGregor’s thunderbolt provided a welcome distraction from the upheaval for the champions, as well as ensuring they ended the weekend only four points behind Premiership leaders Hearts with a game in hand.

Asked if he had a message for supporters as a defining period of the season approaches, McGregor echoed interim boss Martin O’Neill’s recent call for unity, and insisted their patience will eventually be rewarded by better performances from the team.

‘We just need to keep going,’ said the 32-year-old midfielder. ‘There’s been a lot of negativity, change, and disruption.

‘This club is better when everyone is together. Our job on the pitch is to win games of football and give the supporters a team they can be proud of.

‘There are difficult moments in football. Every club goes through it.

‘Let’s not shy away from it. It’s a difficult period, you have to really dig in and this is it now until the end of the season.

‘Of course you want to be flying, winning 4-0 or 5-0 every week, but it doesn’t just happen like that. It’s modern-day football.

‘The club has been successful over a long period of time. Yes, we made mistakes, we didn’t quite perform at the level to get into the Champions League.

‘That was a big blow for everyone. The players feel it, the supporters feel it, the club feels it. Since then, it’s been a bit of an uphill battle.

‘But we are still competing on all fronts and, come the end of the season, can we make sure with all the adversity that we can still have had a good season?

‘That’s my message to the players, the supporters, to everybody inside the club.

‘It’s step by step, just keep chipping away, because eventually it will turn for you.’

The Celtic board and the majority of the fanbase have been at loggerheads since the team were knocked out of the Champions League after an underwhelming transfer window.

Any hope of a compromise went out the window during last Friday’s stormy meeting, which concluded with director Ross Desmond accusing elements of the support of trying to ‘bully’ directors.

Asked how hard it was for the players to deal with the constant background noise, McGregor said: ‘You know, it’s probably a little bit easier for the players. We live in our own wee bubble anyway in terms of preparing for games.

‘Since Martin and Shaun (Maloney) came in, the team has been climbing, winning games and keeping clean sheets.

‘We’re trying to protect that as much as we can, saying to players not to listen too much to the outside noise.

‘Of course, some of it filters in a little bit.

‘But the only thing we can affect is winning games of football and if we can do that, hopefully that will realign the supporters, the team, the club, everyone moving forward.

‘Because I believe Celtic is a much stronger entity when everyone is pushing in the same direction.’

Asked if his spectacular goal could unify people, he added: ‘If that can be the catalyst to bring everything together, then that would be great.

‘But I know for sure there will be other challenging periods throughout the season.

‘You just keep chipping away and we’ll take stock at the end of May.

‘It won’t be plain sailing, but can we have a successful season despite the narrative being different to what it normally is?’

McGregor also warned those who believe Celtic are vulnerable this season that they are only fuelling the desire within the dressing room to prove them wrong.

A turbulent few months has seen performances wane amid the club’s exit from the Champions League, off-field protests, and Brendan Rodgers’ departure as manager following a damaging loss at Tynecastle.

Since interim boss O’Neill came in, however, the team have won three games in the Premiership and advanced to the final of the League Cup.

McGregor believes Saturday night’s hard-fought victory in Paisley showed Celtic’s resolve has only been strengthened by the adversity they have gone through.

Asked if he detected that people felt the side were weaker, McGregor said: ‘That’s the same every season. Everyone looks at Celtic and asks if they can take points.

‘You saw before the goal, it means everything to them (St Mirren) to get a point. The boy (Killian) Phillips was punching the air after tackling (Benjamin) Nygren, because it means everything to them.

‘So, we have to be at our top level every week and more to make sure we are still competing and winning games.

‘I don’t think that has changed much. The narrative is a little bit like we’re vulnerable, but then you need to double down and show everyone your character and what you are made of.

‘The only way through it is winning games.

‘We’ve been successful for a long time and if you don’t have those characteristics I don’t think you can play for this club for a long time.

‘Generally when your backs are against the wall you come out swinging.

‘That’s the mentality we want in the dressing room.’