Skipper has a job for life here, insists Celtic boss

BRENDAN RODGERS has insisted there will be a j ob f or Scott Brown in Celtic’s backroom staff whenever he decides to hang up his boots.

The Parkhead manager stressed that his 32-year-old captain still has a number of years ahead of him as an effective player for the Scottish champions.

But Rodgers i s also keen for Brown’s decade-plus association with the club to continue beyond his time as an on-field influence.

The midfielder, who will lead Celtic into tomorrow evening’s daunting Champions League tie against Paris Saint- Germain at the Parc des Princes, stepped back f rom a previous coaching spell with the club’s Under-20s to concentrate fully on playing.

Rodgers (below) is adamant that future opportunities will be available to him and would not rule out the possibility of Brown progressing to become a potential managerial successor.

‘You wouldn’t want Scott lost to the game,’ said Rodgers. ‘ You’d want him involved.

‘Whether he is a manager or not, we’ll see. That old-fashioned way doesn’t work sometimes nowadays.

‘I had a joke with him when I saw a picture of him picking up the balls. He didn’t look like he should be picking up the balls!

‘It was a great picture and I said to him: “You don’t look like a coach” as he was reluctantly carrying the bag.

‘But he’s got a few years left in him playing and then, at some point, it’s about what he fancies.

‘ He’s certainly going t o be someone that, if he finishes his career at Celtic, there will be a place somewhere in the backroom staff for them.

‘But it’s then what you want to do. He might want to do what Lenny (Neil Lennon) did and go on from being captain to manage. That might be something.’

Rodgers believes Brown will also take time to consider his Scotland f uture under a new national manager.

The f ormer Hibernian player retired from the international scene last year before returning to help Gordon Strachan’s Scotland team in their ultimately unsuccessful bid to reach the World Cup play-offs.

Brown was included in interim manager Malky Mackay’s squad for the recent friendly against Holland, but he didn’t play because of injury.

‘I haven’t spoken to him recently (about Scotland) and I don’t think you need to make a big decision on it now as there are no games until March,’ added Rodgers.

‘It was a friendly game (Holland) and he was there to support, to be around the squad and to use his experience to help Malky.

‘We’ll just see. There is no pressure from me. We just need to make sure that he is fit and available for Celtic and we’ll take it from there.’

Meanwhile, Mikael Lustig has claimed that the secret of Celtic’s Invincibles success was the return of Rangers to the top flight.

The Celtic defender, who has been at the club since 2012, believes it was the catalyst for the Parkhead club moving up to a different level under manager Rodgers.

‘Rangers being back is good for us,’ he said. ‘When they left, we did not spend a lot of money on players.

‘We knew we did not have to invest a great deal of money because we would win the league anyway.

‘But immediately, when they came up, we invested many millions on player purchases and appointed a class manager and bought good players.

‘We started paying better wages, too, to show we would be No 1. The board knew what they were doing when they brought in Brendan.’