‘I’ll be bloody nervous watching the final’: Brown bids farewell
CIARON BROWN spent yesterday behind the wheel as he headed back to Cardiff, but a part of Livingston will stay with the defender.
The 23-year-old has been recalled from his Livingston loan deal by new Cardiff manager Mick McCarthy with Brown keen to motor on in his career.
Grateful for the opportunity he got from Livingston, Brown has admitted that it was a tough call knowing that he will now miss out on the Betfred League Cup final and the chance to claim silverware.
“The cup final is hard to give up despite not playing in many of the games,” he said. “I was suspended for the semi-final and we only found out a couple of days before it that I was suspended. I was gutted because I felt I’d done well enough in the Celtic game to start.
“I was there watching the game and probably more nervous than the boys on the pitch for the last 10 minutes. I’ll be bloody nervous watching the final, but the boys can do it if they go with the right mindset.
“It’s an achievement even to get there in the first place with the Old Firm in the competition. We’ve shown we can compete with every team in the league and we proved that against Aberdeen.
“I don’t know what the rules are but if we win I want a medal in the post! But it’s just an achievement to have been part of a team that got to the final.
“When you are here you wholeheartedly want to do well for Livingston and your teammates, but the main aim is always to get a call back to Cardiff.
“It’s always hard to leave the boys, They’re a good group and make you so welcome. I’ve made friends I’ll talk to for a long time so it’s hard to play a game and then say ‘see you later’.”
Such is the vocal coaching that comes over the course of a 90 minutes from David Martindale that the Livingston manag
er’s words from Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Aberdeen would still have been ringing in Brown’s ears all the way back to Wales.
“Some people might think Davie shouts a lot but he just sets demands on you,” he said.
“I got it worse because I’m a full-back, that’s why I try to play centre-half! I’m mainly a centre-half, but I’ll do a job wherever he asks. I know he’s screaming on the side, but he’s not screaming at you, it’s just that he wants to win.
“When we started the unbeaten run we got into a huddle and said ‘we need to start pushing on and set demands’ and we’ve done that.
“I’ll take away a lot from Livingston – a bit of peace and quiet from Davie! Seriously, the experience as a whole. And just having fun with the boys.
“I’ve made friends for life and I’ll keep in touch with Davie. I’ll let you know in a week how Mick McCarthy compares. It would be a good competition!
“But it’s always difficult to leave when the club, players and staff have been so good to me, but I want to get back to Cardiff and impress the new manager and try to get into that team.”
Aberdeen’s need for a striker was evident during the goalless draw. Manager Derek McInnes has agreed a loan deal for Scotland Under-21 internationalist Fraser Hornby with Stade de Reims to compensate for the loss of Sam Cosgrove who has moved to Birmingham.
Aberdeen’s Ross McCrorie, however, maintains that it is up the team as a whole to contribute with goals.
“The onus has to be on the team,” he said. “We all need to start chipping in with goals. We are creating chances but, at the end of the day we have got to finish them. If we start doing that then we will start to get results. We have a good platform to build on with the clean sheets we are keeping.”