MAKE HISTORY
Brown wants gang to stick around for ten
SCOTT BROWN has urged Celtic’s Nine-in-a-Row heroes to stick around for the chance to make history with a tenth consecutive title.
And he dismissed Ally McCoist’s claim that this year’s triumph will always have an asterisk placed next to it by insisting that Rangers blew their chance to catch their fierce rivals on the field of play.
The Premiership leaders were named champions on Monday when the SPFL board, with the unanimous backing of all 12 top-flight clubs, decided to call time on season 2019-20 and award places on a points-per-game formula.
The Celtic skipper expressed sympathy for firsttime title winners like Christopher Jullien and Greg Taylor missing out on the joy of celebrating their triumph in front of fans.
And although Odsonne Edouard is guaranteed to attract major transfer interest and goalkeeper Fraser Forster is due back at Southampton after his loan spell, Brown is optimistic about Neil Lennon’s chances of keeping the gang together for a crack at the perfect Ten.
‘Boys like Chris and Greg, they want to enjoy
those celebrations, yet everyone is stuck in the house and the medal might get posted to the house,’ said Brown. ‘Ideally, there would have been the chance for the boys to lift the trophy in front of 60,000 at Celtic Park and to celebrate it with the fans. ‘That’s not going to happen for a long, long time, though, it seems. I feel for those lads. ‘But they are at the right club — and they are going to win other trophies. ‘So it would be good to keep as many players as we possibly can, going into next season with guys who know what it’s like to win the trophy. ‘Things can change in football. Players can move on and changes can happen. ‘That’s just part of the game. But it would be great if all the lads could still be here and we could go on again into next season, if it was possible. ‘I don’t know what the situation is with the loans, for example. I’m not sure what happens there. ‘But it would be great to get big Fraser back. The big man has enjoyed his time here and he’s been fantastic. ‘(Mohamed) Elyounoussi also did really well for us until his injury stopped him. He was just getting back to fitness and we were looking forward to him getting back. ‘It’s hard when they are on loan in this situation. We might not see them again. ‘Boys like Jonny Hayes and Craig Gordon (who are nearing the end of their contracts). We don’t know what’s happening. But we have players who know what it’s like to win trophies and titles — and you want as many as them as you can in your squad.’ McCoist was on radio yesterday declaring that, while talk of a ‘tainted title’ was wide of the mark, he believed there would always be an asterisk next to Celtic’s ninth consecutive title because of the circumstances. ‘Clearly and understandably, you can’t argue there’s not going to be an asterisk because this season has been different,’ said the Rangers legend. ‘The asterisk will say, through no fault of their own, this season has been different.’ Brown, part of a team who were sitting 13 points clear of second-placed Rangers when play was suspended on the eve of an Old Firm encounter at Ibrox, said: ‘I think everyone knows that this season has been totally different. ‘Nothing like this has happened in our lifetimes and we hope nothing like this ever happens again. ‘We have to make sure people are safe and not worry about other things. ‘But, at the end of the day, we have been the best team in Scotland all year. We have been the best team in Scotland for the past eight years before this one as well. ‘They have had 85 per cent of the season to try and catch us — and nobody has managed to do it. ‘It shows our willingness to keep pushing and keep creating history. We’re still doing that now.’