Brown is the man who makes Celtic tick, says Swanson
DANNY SWANSON had heard all the stories. Scott Brown’s legs have gone. He slows the Celtic team down. Retirement is just around the corner. Swanson suspected it was all rubbish and a brush with the Parkhead skipper in midweek confirmed that view.
With a new contract agreed and the unsettling prospect of a lucrative move to Australia’s Western Melbourne finally put to bed, Brown put on arguably his most powerful performance of the season against St Johnstone. It’s to Swanson’s regret that he must face the 33-year-old twice more in quick succession. ‘I wouldn’t mind him going abroad and getting rid of him,’ grimaced Swanson, in the wake of a 2-0 defeat. ‘I think the difference shows for Celtic when he is in the team. Some people say he slows it down but he makes everybody tick. He is a class player.’ Swanson isn’t fatalistic about taking on Brown, indeed he has proven he has the tools to nullify the former Scotland captain.
As Celtic homed in on last season’s Premiership title, they went to Hibs’ Easter Road stadium in search of the points that would confirm a seventh consecutive title.
Normally a creative force, Swanson was sent out by Neil Lennon to subdue the country’s Player of the Year elect and he succeeded with a determined display that nullified Brown’s influence and laid the foundations for a surprise home victory.
Assuming Tommy Wright picks him for the middle instalment of a three-parter between the teams at McDiarmid Park, he will look to try and do something similar this afternoon.
‘I enjoy playing against Broony and, although I didn’t get close to him on Wednesday night, I will try again on Sunday,’ continued Swanson, who signed on for a third spell at Saints last summer.
‘It is possible to get at Celtic, but everybody has to be at it. Everything has to be spot on, but when Broony starts controlling the game it’s a problem.
‘You have got guys like Ryan Christie and Callum McGregor playing off him, it is scary to play against sometimes.
‘Everybody worked hard but Broony... a lot of people are saying that maybe his legs have gone but I can guarantee you they’ve not. He is a top player. That is why he has been at Celtic for so long. I know him well and the way he changes when he goes on to the pitch, compared to how he is off it, it’s massive.
‘Personally, I think he is still the guy who sets the tone. This season he has been injured at times and they have looked a lot quicker but the way he gets them going, you maybe don’t see it off the pitch, the way he gets a hold of everybody — he definitely brings more to the team when he is in it.
‘I honestly don’t think he’s even close yet (to retiring) and that is me being honest. He could play for another five years easily.
‘I know the standard in the league isn’t excellent and I know people are saying he hasn’t tried England, but he doesn’t have to.
‘He is captain of Celtic, why would you? People who say he couldn’t play down there haven’t got a clue about football, to be honest.’ Brendan Rodgers would concur. Brown was given time and space to consider his big life decision, but the Celtic manager had one preferred outcome in mind. ‘Scott needed the time to think and see what another side might look like,’ said the former Liverpool boss. ‘That was only fair. When any player asks for advice, I’ll say what I’d say to my own son. Thankfully, he came to the decision that he wanted to stay here.
‘He is a wonderful captain, a competitor. When I first came here people would talk about the trips to Ross County or Inverness. I remember being at Inverness and he was preparing like it was a World Cup final. He never tires of it.’
After taking the Celtic job in 2016, one of Rodgers’ first public promises was to build his team round Brown, a man he saw fulfilling a similar role to that of Steven Gerrard during his time at Anfield.
That plan was based around Brown’s leadership skills but Rodgers admits the Fifer had more in his locker.
‘I have to be honest and say I was surprised by his quality,’ he added. ‘Scott probably had this stigma about being one who just tackles but to play in midfield for a big club you need to have a personality and that instinct to dominate.
‘I was surprised at how good a footballer he is and it was a nice surprise. His passing is good, short and long, he’s got a lovely way of letting the ball run across his body.
‘In the game the other night, in the second half, the ball came to him in midfield and he played a little ball into the corner and got it back.
‘Then his pass to James Forrest was about 50 yards, inside the full-back and the centre-half, to James running inside the box. It was an incredible pass but with Browny these things get taken for granted.’
Ominously for Saints, Brown wasn’t even on the pitch when Celtic last visited McDiarmid Park and dished out a tear-inducing 6-0 thrashing.
That day offered the first evidence that Rodgers’ side were belatedly finding form after a distracted start to the campaign — and offered evidence to those who claim Celtic are more fluent without their experienced leader.
For Swanson, it was not only a day to forget but one which the 32-yearold barely remembers — or at least the part where he embarrassed himself with the wild lunge on four-goal Forrest after half-time and was shown a red card.
‘I was a bit hot-headed at half-time — I probably should have come off,’ he admitted.
‘The gaffer asked me but I stayed on and ended up doing something stupid. I can’t really remember doing it, it was one of those things. I felt bad, knowing the boys were running about mad out there. But the game was gone.
‘We know what happened. It was a bit of a fluke, I would say. It seemed like every shot they hit went in.’