TALKING CELTIC
CELTIC captain Scott Brown has revealed that dialogue has started with the PFA and topflight Scottish clubs with regard to establish a statutory four-week break at the end of every season.
The move will inevitably draw clubs into conflict with the SFA, who only this week confirmed friendlies against Peru and Mexico that are to be played at the end of May and the beginning of June respectively.
Those games in particular will pose a problem for the seven Celtic players who could anticipate a call-up. With the cycle of UEFA Champions League qualification games due to kick in at the beginning of July, Celtic will be expected to report back for pre-season training around mid-June.
Last term Brown took only six days off given that he featured for Scotland against England at Hampden in a European Championship qualification tie, but he has revealed that a more formal and guaranteed break for every player has been broached by Liam O’Donnell, a PFA legal representative.
That would effectively mean a change in the calendar in order that the domestic season is drawn around a formal close season, something that Brown would inevitably welcome.
“The PFA are trying to help us out with a four-week holiday,” said the Celtic captain.
“For us, that would phenomenal. Especially the Celtic lads in Scotland, we’ve probably not had that in a long time because of the early starts in Europe, Champions League qualifications, and the quicker we can get that the better.
“They [the PFA] spoke to me about that and said that is what they are trying to do and if they do that it will be fantastic.
“It’s more Liam [O’Donnell], I think he’s understanding how hard it is on everyone’s body, and the need for rest and recovery, and even to let the pitches get grass on them again.
“It is just rest more than anything. Recharge your batteries, go away and try and forget about football for a week or two and then come back.
“When you do that the mood, everything, lightens up, aches and pains have gone away and you come back fresh and ready to go again.
“It is more that than going away with your families and doing your own thing. It is just about the rest and recovery and being ready to go again the next season because everyone knows how hard that it, especially at Celtic.”
RECENT stats showed that Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney has played more football this season that any other European player.
The 20-year-old has been a mainstay for both club and country but the over-exposure to the physical demands created by playing with such frequency can cause problems further down the line.
“That is 42 games Kieran played before the new year and most people, and down in Eng- land, they don’t play that either,” said Brown.
“For him to play that, it is the most in European football, so our lads have been getting battered more than anyone.
“Last year, and I said it, I got six days off. The season’s long, the season’s hard for us. That’s me played 40 games before new year. I’ve had a winter break in Dubai and people might think of the break, but we got battered every day in training. It was hard but it enjoyable, and there was rest time as well.
“It’s about keeping our bodies going and two weeks isn’t long enough for the young lads and people like Kieran, and stuff like that. Momentum will get him through pretty much whatever, but he needs rest, he needs recovery, he needs time away from football just to go and enjoy his life. He’s not a robot, he just can’t keep going season after season after season. You need time to chill and recharge.”