I’m sad to be leaving Parkhead without saying cheerio to 60,000 supporters
SCOTT BROWN ON THAT SHOCK MOVE TO PITTODRIE
UNDER normal circumstances, Scott Brown would leave Celtic to a raucous standing ovation. After 14 years and 22 trophies, the farewells would be tear-stained, the tributes lengthy.
During a global pandemic, however, almost nothing is as it should be.
As a consequence, Brown’s glittering spell as Parkhead captain will finish at the end of this season in an empty stadium to eerie silence.
The next time the former Scotland captain encounters supporters of any description they’ll be decked in the crimson red of Aberdeen. And most will have spent the last decade and more regarding him as the modern incarnation of Beelzebub.
‘It doesn’t matter where you go,’ shrugged Brown yesterday. ‘You always need to win over the fans. I did that at Hibs and Celtic. Whenever I cross that white line, I always give 110 per cent.
‘I want to win games of football and I enjoy the challenge. I’m sure there are still a few Hibs and Celtic fans who don’t appreciate the way I play or the way I go about my business.
‘But as long as I work hard and do my talking on the park, I don’t need to worry about the rest.’
Much of the ill feeling stems back to season 2014-15. Celtic’s Aleksandar Tonev was accused of racially abusing Dons full-back Shay Logan. The Bulgarian was hit with a seven-game ban, his appeal thrown out despite Brown offering his public backing to his team-mate.
In truth, he had little choice. Despite Logan moving from Pittodrie to Hearts on loan for the rest of this season, however, the pair could still end up sharing a dressing room.
‘It’s a very hard thing, because you have one player saying he got racially abused, and then you’ve got a team-mate that says he didn’t say it,’ says Brown of the Tonev incident.
‘It’s hard because we’ve had players in the past like Scotty (Sinclair), we’ve had Moussa (Dembele) and we’ve had Odsonne (Edouard) getting racially abused, and that should never happen in football no matter who you play for. You can’t be doing that through Instagram or Twitter or anything like that.
‘This club has been fantastic, we work very closely with Show Racism the Red Card and we all firmly believe in that.
‘At that time, I stuck up for my team-mate because he said and he swore to me that: “I didn’t do it”, so you’ve got to take his stance on that. To this day, I still don’t know whether he said it or not. It was one person’s word against the other.
‘But I’ve got huge respect for Shay. He’s been a fantastic player for Aberdeen over the years, he’s worked extremely hard.
‘We’ve had a lot of battles over the course of our careers, and it’s been enjoyable, to be fair. I’m sure he’d say the exact same.’
Proving he is prepared to extend support to opponents as well as team-mates, Brown earned praise for his gesture of solidarity towards Glen Kamara after the Rangers midfielder accused Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela of racist abuse during a recent Europa League game.
‘I saw what happened in the papers with Glen and it’s not a nice thing to happen,’ said the Parkhead skipper. ‘I’ve seen it happen to my team-mates as well and how they’ve been down after it.
‘For me, it’s just about mutual respect. It doesn’t matter if you are a player at a different club or you’re a player at Celtic, we don’t want to see that in football at all.’
It was respect for his former Hibs team-mate Stephen Glass which persuaded Brown to cut his ties with Celtic after an era of unparalleled success. Until the news broke that he was joining the new Dons boss at Pittodrie, few realised the pair were close.
‘I was the young wild one coming through at Hibs and he was the experienced pro,’ admitted Brown. ‘I looked up to him and we chatted a lot.
‘He had a fantastic career going from Aberdeen to Hibs, Newcastle and Watford. He was always someone I looked up to and respected, and we stayed in touch.
‘It’s been a good story and now we will go into business together. I’m looking forward to working with him.
‘It was always going to be a hard decision to leave Celtic. I’ve had 14 fantastic years here and I’ve enjoyed every single minute.
‘It was hard but Glassy phoned me up to say he wanted me to work underneath him but also to play. It gave me the best of both worlds.
‘I can see the inside workings of a football club rather than just playing on the Saturday.’
Before agreeing to take on the dual role as player-coach, Brown took soundings from old heads.
He spoke to Brendan Rodgers, he called Gordon Strachan. He even contacted the man Glass is replacing, Derek McInnes, to case out the lie of the land. Some expressed reservations over trying to do two jobs at once, but advised him to grasp the opportunity to take the next step in his career.
‘Let’s be honest, I’m not getting any younger, and to go into this new chapter and to learn from a fantastic manager as well in Stephen is going to be huge for me,’ admitted Brown.
‘It’s something I’ll look forward to. I’ve always been passionate about going into the coaching side of things and this gives me the best of both worlds.
‘I can play as well as learning a lot on the other side, from putting on sessions, dealing with agents and budgets as well as tactical decisions around the game.
‘The challenge is to keep playing as well. I’m going in as a coach. Glassy is hands-on as well, he’s a fantastic coach and he’s looking forward to the experience.
‘He’s someone I trust and respect. He’s going to be a fantastic manager and he’ll show that next season at Aberdeen.’
The opportunity to keep playing was important. In his more reflective moments, Brown has spoken in the past of playing on as long as he can.
Yet others have tried playing and coaching in the past and found something had to give.
‘I’ve got a two-year playing deal at Aberdeen, so we’ll just see how that goes,’ said Brown. ‘That will take me to 38, and if I still feel like I do just now, I can still get around the park, still play and help people and the manager still sees the benefit of playing me, then I’ll continue to play.
‘If I feel like I’m done and I don’t want another pre-season, then that option is on the table, too.
‘I’d rather make that decision myself than anyone else.’
Playing on will mean returning to Celtic Park as an opposition player. So closely identified with Celtic’s success of recent years, it’s a difficult prospect to imagine.
Robbed of the chance to say a proper farewell to Parkhead fans by Covid, he still has a season to play out and can’t bring himself to think how it might feel just yet.
‘The sad thing is I won’t get to say my goodbyes in front of 60,000 fans,’ he admitted. ‘They’ve been a huge part of my journey over these last 14 years and I’ve got a lot of love for them.
‘I wouldn’t be here winning trophies without them. This season has been hard for everyone, and we’ve certainly found it hard having no fans in the ground. It has just shown what the fans bring to Celtic Park.
‘I’m sad I can’t say goodbye right now but I’m sure they understand the situation. I’ve had some lovely messages on social media and it’s been much appreciated.
‘I’m sorry I can’t get back to them all but it’s been great. I’ve had 14 fantastic years and wouldn’t change it for the world.’
He swore to me: ‘I didn’t do it.’ I had to take his stance
He will be a fantastic boss at Aberdeen next season