World Cup ambition drives Brown
SCOTT BROWN has vowed to repay his debt to Gordon Strachan by captaining Scotland to the World Cup Finals. The Scotland skipper has silenced talk of international retirement following the failure to reach Euro 2016 by vowing to play on. Brown, 30, has already relayed his decision to Strachan — the man he credits with signing him for Celtic and helping him
through testing early days at Parkhead. ‘I spoke to Gordon,’ he said. ‘It was fun to listen to for a while (speculation over Brown’s international future) but eventually I got bored listening to talk of me retiring. I was never going to retire. ‘Gordon is the manager and the one who brought me to Celtic. He is pretty much the reason why I am still here. ‘I still speak to him on a regular basis with Scotland and even when he left Celtic I still spoke to him. ‘He means so much to me and, hopefully, I will always be able to keep in touch because to have someone with that footballing knowledge, with the way he sees the game, means so much. ‘He was willing to help me through tough times as well as good times. ‘Now I would love to help him get to the World Cup. ‘That would be the best thing in the world and the icing on the cake. That would be us evens.’ Currently sitting on 49 caps, Brown was speaking at the Parkhead launch of his new book, Scott Brown: My Celtic Story. Admitting he came under pressure from some corners to preserve his energies by concentrating on club matters, the fear of finishing his Scotland career without an appearance at a major international finals prompted him to carry on. ‘My next Scotland appearance will be my 50th cap, so to get that and not get to a major finals is slightly disappointing,’ he said. ‘But there have been great players before me who have suffered that. ‘Hopefully, in the coming years, we can get to a World Cup or maybe even a European Championship — if I still have the legs to get there. ‘A lot of people came to me and asked why I was focusing on Scotland so much now when I am coming towards the end of my career. ‘But I’m not coming to the end of my career. ‘I have six or seven years left and I am enjoying it.’ Brown will return to Celtic’s first team for this weekend’s visit of Gary Locke’s Kilmarnock after suffering from a knee injury he sustained before the international break. He said: ‘I feel as fit as I ever was — and I’m still doing as much running now as I did when I first signed here.’