Does Brown deserve his place back in hottest of midfields?

IT’S by no means uncommon for the stock of footballers to rise without them so much as kicking a ball. Whether injured or simply out of favour, many a pub argument has elevated fine players to demigod status purely by dint of some elbow bending and fevered imaginations.

Lately, Scott Brown may have detected the opposite dynamic at play. Sidelined with a hamstring injury since the 4-2 win over Hibernian on October 20, the importance of the Celtic skipper has been diminished in the eyes of some observers purely through the sparkling contributions of those who have replaced him.

He is not alone in this regard. Eight days after Brown pulled up, Olivier Ntcham retired prematurely from the Betfred Cup semi-final with Hearts with a thigh strain.

Rather than fall apart in their absence in recent weeks, Brendan Rodgers’ side have discovered the kind of form most believed they had left far behind them. With Callum McGregor redeployed in a holding role, the introduction of Ryan Christie alongside Tom Rogic has given the midfield the perfect blend of pace and panache.

They hit Hearts for three in the second half at Murrayfield before sticking five past them at Celtic Park, scored five without reply at Dundee and defeated RB Leipzig in what was arguably the most complete European display of Rodgers’ tenure.

While Livingston succeeded in shutting the champions out in the last game before the international break, no Celtic fan viewing this weekend’s trip to Hamilton will be plotting the team in their heads with any certainty.

Indeed, with the new-look midfield purring of late, it is legitimate to suggest that Rodgers will also be wrestling with the fact that five into three simply doesn’t go.

Is it at all conceivable that Brown (below), a winner of 16 major honours with the club and reigning SFWA Player of the Year, may have to bide his time before again entering the fray?

‘Over the past few weeks the results have been going well,’ said ex-Celtic winger Joe Miller.

‘There’s been a more direct approach from the midfield. I’ve even heard some people say it’s been better without Brown in the team, but that’s absolute nonsense.

‘You need him in it simply because there’s been enough chances for the opposition in the past weeks to have punished Celtic if they had been more clinical. That’s because he’s not been there.

‘The flip side of the coin is that Celtic driving forward with McGregor, Christie and Rogic in full flow has been the cavalier approach which we’ve seen from so many sides in the past. It’s great to watch.

‘But, from a defensive point of view, there’s no one there who’s going to sit in front of the back four and clean up.

‘He’s still got to be in the team. You need to remember how often over the past few seasons he wasn’t in the team and Celtic just didn’t play.

‘I don’t think he’s any less fit or less of a player than he was. He’s still a colossus in midfield.’

A solution of sorts may lie in the sheer number of games Rodgers’ side face. Saturday is the first of 11 games across three competitions in a 36-day run that culminates at Ibrox on December 29.

Assuming all are fit, this weekend’s team-sheet will still make for fascinating reading. With Celtic only top of the table on goal difference, it can safely be assumed Rodgers will play his strongest hand. And, in Miller’s view, that means Brown plus Ntcham.

‘(Ntcham) might find it more difficult to get back in but I doubt it,’ he said of the Frenchman who recently signed a contract extension until 2022.

So what, then, of the likes of Christie? In danger of becoming the forgotten man at the start of the season, a white-hot month has seen him land a new contract and bulldoze his way into the Scotland team.

Miller views his versatility amid a blizzard of fixtures as his salvation.

‘The good thing is he is very adaptable,’ he noted. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if the manager mixes it up and has him alternating with Odsonne Edouard up front some weeks and on others he drops back behind the striker. ‘He’s certainly got the ability to play up front. He can beat a player, has a trick up his sleeve, can see a pass and can hold the ball up.

‘Not a lot of players are as adaptable these days. But he’s also got pace to take him beyond players. The goal he set up against Leipzig was the perfect example of how to time your run to perfection. That was exactly the kind of thing Stuart Armstrong did so well.’

A boyhood Celtic fan who impressed while on loan at Aberdeen, Christie might well have been the one that got away had fate not dealt him a different hand.

‘I’ve been saying it for quite a while that he should be in the team,’ said Miller. ‘I watched him closely at Inverness and thought right away he was Celtic class.

‘I remember speaking to his dad when I was covering a game for the radio and I made that point. I’ve never changed my mind.

‘He’s pretty similar to Armstrong in that he can burst forward for 90 minutes and open up teams. He’s maybe not got the same dead-ball skills but he’s similar in the sense he’s got that energy.

‘He’s been a breath of fresh air. I heard so many fans say in the summer he would soon be surplus to requirements.

‘To my mind, that boy has always been a talented player.

‘Now he’s getting a right good run in the team he’ll only get better. He’s grown physically and is getting stronger, so he’s now handling coming up against different opponents.

‘He’s in good hands because developing young players has always been Brendan Rodgers’ forte.’

It is the Celtic manager’s manmanagement skills that will need to be his strong suit in the coming days, though.

Regardless of the personnel and shape he eventually plumps for, Miller believes the problems at his old club are all of the right kind.

‘If you’re a player in that dressing room right now, you know you’re fighting for your place,’ he said. ‘When you do get that start, you want to stay in there. That’s very healthy for the manager.’