BROWN DEBT TO LEGEND BURNS

Tommy sold Celtic to me with his love for the club, says Scott

SCOTT BROWN can still recall the late-night texts. The beeping of a mobile phone followed by an irresistible hard sell. Long after he stopped playing for Celtic, the late Tommy Burns remained a master of the pitch.

The taxman will now attest that Sir David Murray had a trick or two of his own when it came to luring new players to Rangers. Yet as Brown debated his next destination on leaving Hibernian eight years ago, low tax loans proved no match for top-class enthusiasm.

‘Tommy was the man,’ laughs Brown now. ‘He was a legend with everyone.

‘He could tell you everything about Celtic from when the club was formed until the day he passed away.

‘He was so enthusiastic about his football and playing for Celtic. He would say how much he enjoyed his time as a player here and when he came back.

‘You could see how much he loved it and how much it meant to people.’

In the years since, Celtic have grown on Brown as well. Launching a new book, Scott Brown: My Celtic Story, his debt to Gordon Strachan — the manager who signed him — and his former coach is apparent.

Burns died of skin cancer in May 2008, aged 51. Two weeks later, Brown lost his younger sister, Fiona, to the same disease at a significantly younger age.

There were grounds for both Celtic and Brown during that difficult, fraught year to wonder if either had made the right decision.

Five league titles, two Scottish Cups, two League Cups and 300 appearances later, the captain of Scotland can feel now that it all worked out for the best.

‘I’ve got no regrets — I always knew where I’d end up,’ he says. ‘Coming to Celtic was the best decision I’ve made in my life.

‘To be here nine years later, playing in front of 60,000 fans and walking into a facility like Lennoxtown every day has been brilliant.

‘The deciding factor was speaking to Gordon and Tommy. The two of them were so enthusiastic about the football and the club.

‘I knew Tommy from Scotland. He was texting and full of banter. He was great.

‘You got a feeling of what the club was about and how they wanted to win trophies.

‘It was great to speak to two quality guys who’d been players and coaches.

‘They spoke a lot about the club’s future, but mostly about my future and how it would be so much better in a green-and-white shirt. They were right.’

If there is a regret, it may be that Kevin Thomson didn’t join him. A dynamic Easter Road midfield pairing at the time, Rangers and Celtic sought them both as a pair.

They still play golf together and their wives are close, but they were not as inseparable as folk thought. Thomson opted for Ibrox.

‘I got invited by the club to the Manchester United game,’ recalls Brown. ‘I came along with my agent and saw Naka (Shunsuke Nakamura) score that free-kick. ‘I just thought: “Wow.” ‘There were 60,000 folk chanting after beating Manchester United at home. It wasn’t just one or two of those results at that time, though.

‘Celtic were winning seven or eight times out of 10 against big sides.

‘But that experience was fantastic and it really stayed with me. It gave me so much enthusiasm to come to Celtic and play in front of 60,000 at Parkhead.’

The first year was chequered. Only a very few knew that his sister was battling cancer and Brown, renowned for his fight and energy at Hibernian, was noticeably more subdued in a Celtic shirt.

By his own admission, no one then would have tipped him to be a future captain of club and country. His energies were too often spent in the wrong direction.

‘I was slightly immature — slightly,’ he recalls. ‘I have matured a bit now.

‘But at the time, people thought I was just a wee, hot-headed person.

‘The love of playing football and the will-to-win pulled me through.

‘Now I just don’t go fighting as much with referees and 11 opposing players. I have mellowed that way.’

It was an unexpected managerial gamble which changed things. For Brown, if not for the man taking the gamble.

‘The day Tony Mowbray handed me the captain’s armband...

‘He knew how much it meant to me,’ continues Brown. ‘He knew Stephen McManus thrived through having the armband and he felt that would happen with me.

‘It was either me or some random player who was there at the time. I’d been there a while, so I think that was his reason.

‘When Lenny (Neil Lennon) came in as manager, he also put a lot of responsibility on me.

‘I think that’s what matured me a lot. I just needed a wee bit of responsibility.

‘I would come in, train, work, go home. I was in a routine, but to come in to the captaincy and the responsibility to do the things Lenny asked me to do — and other managers maybe wouldn’t — was a big thing. I thrived on that.’

He still has his critics. He remains a widely despised figure amongst opposition supporters. Even amongst Celtic supporters his passing remains the subject of criticism.

That both Celtic and rival fans would rather have Brown playing in their team than against them is telling.

The energy is still there. He simply fuels it in a more professional way now.

‘I still run just as much as I did,’ he insists. ‘Maybe not with the same intensity and there are not as many stupid runs as back then.

‘I think about it more and realise where I should be going and stay in position more.

‘You used to see these dots of where I would run and they were zig zags all over the park.

‘It’s just maturing and learning the game more — and that comes from the coaching staff as well.

‘You see more when you are standing off the pitch watching than you do in about it.’

He won’t rule out coaching. Approaching his 10th year as a Celtic player, a testimonial is now more likely than not. Albeit with one obvious concern from the man himself.

‘Can you be suspended from your own testimonial?...’