SKIPPER STILL HAS PLENTY TO GIVE
SCOTT BROWN simply can’t imagine the horror. The misery. The emptiness. The day when it all ends and he no longer has the only thing he has known since leaving school. Brown dreads the day he has to retire, can barely stomach the prospect. And while inspirational figures such as Gordon Strachan and Gary McAllister give him encouragement that he can play until approaching his forties, it’s the agony and anguish suffered by former team-mates Kevin Thomson and John Kennedy which really drive him to savour each and every day of his career. Thomson and Kennedy cruelly had theirs cut short by injury. Mercifully, they have found a new life within the game, with Kennedy now coaching Brown as part of Brendan Rodgers’ backroom team and Thomson having his own coaching academy as well as a role with the Rangers kids. The Celtic captain, 32, knows one day he’ll have to find a new role in football as well but is determined it won’t be soon and has vowed to wring every last second out of the life he loves. He said: “One day I could be training with the lads and the next day it’s the end and you’re retired. “The hardest thing will be not being in a dressing room with 20 lads, having the banter at training and losing a winning mentality. “For now I will enjoy every moment and play with a smile on my face because I know it might not last that long. “I appreciate people more than ever. I appreciate training, coming to a place like Dubai, socialising with guys at night or by the pool. You take that in more than when you were a teenager. “I look at Thommo and Kendo. Thommo could still be playing now but he has his training academy and enjoys that. He stayed in football because he enjoys it and it’s the only thing we all know. “Kendo had to deal with real hardship making so many comebacks and then slowly having to call it day as he knew that five years down the line he could be in a wheelchair. “Now he’s doing a great job under a great manager and could go on himself to be a great manager. “I left school and went straight into the game so I don’t know anything else. “It’s not that I’ve had a nine-to-five job and can go into it when I retire. Stuart Armstrong is studying law but I don’t think that’s for me. “It’s not about the money, it’s about enjoying my life and my job. I’m lucky enough to win trophies with these guys, play in front of 60,000 people – that’s incredible. I take it in as I know it won’t last.
“I speak to Tom Boyd and, while he comes to every home game and loves it, he still wishes he could be out there playing.”
Brown’s doing everything and using every aid available to prolong his career.
He said: “I’m looking after myself a lot better than I probably have done in the past. You have to do it right off the field and look after what you’re eating.
“I never even cooked before I was 25 and I didn’t have the luxuries we have at Celtic when I came through at Hibs.
“By that, I mean dieticians working full-time, making sure you eat the right things at lunch.
“I came through at Hibs and we had pasta and chicken at lunch but we were then being told: ‘Sorry, there’s not enough chicken.’ “Then it was straight down to Greggs! “Our training also helps because it’s high tempo and it’s what I’ve been wanting to do for the last three or four years. We use GPS, sat-navs, heart-rate monitors. And it shows you the numbers you hit.
“You can really see how hard you have worked. We’re working flat out and running through aches and pains to get through it because you benefit from that in the long run.
“I just try to keep going. I know I’m getting older and one of these days I’m going to slowly fall down.
“But as long as my legs can take it I’ll keep battering them.”
Brown may portray himself as daft sometimes and talk himself down but you don’t retain the captaincy of Celtic and Scotland without having ability and plenty of nous.
The 32-year-old might not be following Armstrong’s lead but a role in the game is assured and management possible. Brown has taken coaching badges and admits getting pointers from old gaffers such as Strachan and Neil Lennon – as well as current boss Rodgers – could be a serious asset when his career evolves.
He said: “I just need to make sure I keep someone’s [Rodgers’] number on speed dial for when I need it!
“You need to start somewhere. I know Lenny came into Celtic when there were problems and he turned out to be phenomenal.
“But the club is in an incredible position now with an incredible manager. If he ever left, Celtic would be in a position to go out and get another great manager who would love the job having done well elsewhere.
“I’d have to go away and earn the right to take on the Celtic job.
“I could pick up the phone to a lot of managers. I’ve been close with a lot of them and could get advice at any time. I could ask: ‘What am I doing wrong?’
“I don’t think Lenny saw himself as a manager. At 18 I think I was fighting in midfield with Lenny!
“When you are 21 you don’t ever think about what you will do 15 years down the line.
“It’s only when you get to my age and realise the next step is not far away that you get the badges so you are ready to take chances that come your way.
“I’m not sure if Lenny had done all his badges when he was chucked in at the deep end by Celtic but he seemed to enjoy it and thrive.
“He went to Bolton, came back stronger and took over at Hibs.”
For now, though, it’s just about playing for Brown.
He said: “When the manager came in, I felt I was in the last chance saloon.
“I had two years left and thought to myself: ‘I will see how it goes – if I play I play and if not then I will have given it everything I had.’
“But I’m enjoying every single moment now and I want to keep going as long as I can.” centrepiece of a magnificent site which replaced Nad Al Sheba Racecourse and the World Cup is the biggest sporting and social occasion in the Dubai calendar.
No one cares about Virgil van Dijk, Romelu Lukaku, Scott Brown or Graeme Shinnie over here when the racing is on.
The UAE simply lives and breathes the sport of kings with the Godolphin operation a flagship.
Celtic captain Brown has friends who own racehorses and he was scheduled to go along to take in some of the action at the world-famous course.
Not sure if he was paying to get in but the locals certainly don’t due to the understanding and generosity of Sheikh Mohammed.
He basically runs racing here at the highest level so it says an awful lot about him that he makes this magnificent course free for all, so that any man, woman or child can go in and enjoy the spectacle.
Quite a spectacle it is, too. No harm to Hamilton or Musselburgh but the place is another level.