BIG GAME HUNTER

Age may finally be catching up with him but, with 22 trophies under his belt in his glittering Parkhead career, Griffiths insists Sunday’s cup win shows talisman Brown is THE man Celtic players want next to them in the trenches

SCOTT Brown has spent his entire career dividing opinion and disproving doubters. And winning. There’s been a lot of winning. Why stop now, right?

If even his close friends and team-mates accept that the Celtic captain can no longer play three games a week at 100 per cent and 100 miles per hour, they are united when it comes to one thing.

For the biggest fixtures, the occasions when everything is on the line, they still want ‘Broony’ lining up beside them. Bawling at them. Bursting everything to make those around him better.

‘Listen, he’s getting older, so I think he maybe needs to be more wise about what games he plays now,’ explained Leigh Griffiths, whose own tale of personal redemption and professional resurrection might — he hopes — end with playing a key role for Scotland at next summer’s Euros.

‘I think the gaffer has realised that now, as well. But the big games, he needs to play in those for us. In my opinion, anyway.

‘You saw it again at Hampden on Sunday. He bossed a Scottish Cup final, played a big part in my goal — and I was delighted to see him get his hands on the trophy again. It was great to be going up there with him.’

Sunday’s Scottish Cup final saw Brown, left out of the starting line-up by Neil Lennon for Celtic’s previous two games, return to the Hoops XI in typically robust style.

Nobody in green-and-white could claim to have turned in a perfect performance i n the 3- 3 draw with Hearts.

But Brown’s i nterventions, including that thunderous header to set up Griffiths for what should have been an extra-time winner, were always important.

And so the captain fully deserved to end the day celebrating a 22nd senior winner’s medal with Celtic. An utterly remarkable statistic, isn’t it?

Yet there will still be plenty of fans who insist that young Ismaila Soro should permanently ease the captain out of Lennon’s first-choice team.

Since breaking into the Hibs squad as an all-action, gamebreaking force of nature pumped up on sweeties and fizzy juice, the most decorated Scottish player of his generation has always garnered as much criticism as praise. For the best part of two full decades, this has been his lot.

The secret of his consistent ability to silence those who have questioned his worth and his talent?

Running head-first into the flak. Immersing himself in the expert opinion decreeing him a waste of money, an ill-disciplined hothead or, for the past couple of seasons, a spent force.

‘I think it spurs him on,’ said Griffiths, the fellow ex- Hibee, grinning as he added: ‘I think he actually buzzes over that (people saying he’s finished).

‘ Listen, for all the accolades he gets, they’re all earned — all totally justified.

‘Yeah, he’s had a little bit of stick. But I don’t think it’ s been justified.

‘ He’s a serial winner, a born leader. He’s in that dressing room every single day, driving the boys on, making sure they’re 100-per-cent at it.

‘And I’ve seen comments about would he start, wouldn’t he start, would Soro get a start in the cup final?

‘ The performance he put in against Hearts was unbelievable. He was our leader.

‘ If you look back on all the Scottish Cup finals we’ve played, he’s probably been man of the match in about 75 per cent of them.

‘That is exactly what you need from your captain. He’s a born leader, a born winner — and I’m delighted that he’s my captain. You need that winning mentality, especially when performances haven’t been great.’

Brown will be 36 this summer. He jokes often enough himself about the ‘old legs’ still keeping him upright. And he’s already taken steps to prepare for retirement, with coaching a natural outlet for the next stage of this sporting life.

Until someone turns in a series of absolutely dominant performances in his position, though, it’s clear that Lennon will continue to rely on his skipper.

As for whether he’ll soon start turning to Griffiths on a more regular basis, well, the head coach has made it pretty clear that only the player himself can make the running — literally — on that subject.

Lambasted by Lennon f or returning from lockdown out of condition and overweight, the 30-year- old insists he’s now fit. Just not match fit.

He c ertainly doesn’t l ack motivation to force his way back into the first team either alongside or instead of Odsonne Edouard, Patryk Klimala or Albian Ajeti.

As t he man who f amously embarrassed England goalkeeper Joe Hart with a couple of the best free-kicks ever seen at Hampden, he’s desperate to keep his place in Steve Clarke’s squad for the European Championship — and get a chance to repeat those moments of glory at Wembley.

‘It is something to look forward to in the summer, but I won’t be there if I don’t play games and keep scoring goals,’ admitted

Griffiths. ‘ So from now until at least March, I want to get a good run of form and still be in Steve Clarke’s plans.

‘We have four strikers here all vying for the one place just now, with the formation we go with.

‘It is about working hard in training and trying to make an impact when you can, if you can come off the bench.

‘Hopefully, I have done that and given the manager a wee bit of a headache going forward.

‘He said after the game that I need to get fitter. Well that green stuff, the pitch, I need to be on that to get match fit.

‘I am not unfit. I am fit. But just not match fit and you can tell. Obviously, I have not had a run of games.

‘There is a difference between being fit and match fit and you need to play games to get match fit. The more minutes I get, the fitter I will be.’

Griffiths revealed that, even amid the celebrations sparked by Conor Hazard’s penalty save sand Kris Ajer’ s conversion in the shoot- out, he had taken time to commiserate with one old team-mate almost guaranteed to be with Scotland next summer.

‘After going to Conor, I went straight to Craig Gordon,’ he explained. ‘It’s never nice losing a penalty shoot-out.

‘It’s about showing humility and then you can celebrate after that.’