Scotland couldn’t have gotten their European Championships off to a worse start on Friday evening, losing 5-1 to Germany in Munich.
The national team delivered an awful performance, leaving them disgraced on the international stage.
Several players have faced criticism since Friday, including Celtic captain Callum McGregor.
The captain was alone at the base of Scotland’s midfield. While he was arguably at fault for the Germans’ second goal of the night, the fact that he was the only holding midfielder under constant opposition pressure didn’t help.
Graeme Souness heavily blasted McGregor’s performance last week, even appearing to take a covert dig when he referred to him as the ‘Celtic captain’ rather than his name.
However, the former Rangers player has attempted to cover his tracks. Souness claims he completely forgot the 31-year-old’s name when criticising his performance.
“I couldn’t remember his name”, he said (talkSport via Football Scotland).
“But I knew he was captain of Celtic. I was critical of him because if you remember the build up to the goal, he tried to nick it off [Ilkay] Gundogan and Gundogan turned him.
“He should have just been goal side trying to get a challenge in, but he tried to step in front and nick it. Further on in the same attack which led to the goal, he’s tried to nick it off Jamal Musiala again. So twice he’s tried to nick it instead of just being strong in the challenge and that would’ve prevented us conceding that goal.
“I forgot his name, I couldn’t remember his name but I knew he was a good little football player and if it’s been taken as a slant or criticism, I didn’t mean it. I genuinely forgot his name.”
Whether Souness is telling the truth remains debatable. In the heat of the moment and after his country been crushed, it’s understandable that he would try to get his dig in, but at 71 years old, he might have just forgotten McGregor’s name.
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