I watched Rod tell his son they would win 10 in a row... I couldn’t disagree with him
Former Ibrox star Brown thrilled to see rocker’s Celtic prediction falter
JOHN BROWN would, as a general rule, have been sufficiently irritated to tap Rod Stewart on the shoulder for a quiet word. It’s October 2017 at Pittodrie. Celtic are cruising to a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Kieran Tierney and Moussa Dembele (2).
To the beat of bouncing away fans in the opposite stand booming out their Brendan Rodgers signature tune, the Scottish singer-songwriter details to son Alastair how Celtic are going to make history.
Brown, bristling, listened in. ‘They were sitting directly in front of me and his son asked what the fans were singing about,’ he recalls.
‘It was 3-0 going on six or seven. They were that good, opening up Aberdeen for fun.
‘Rod explained about the Lisbon Lions winning nine and the Rangers team that won nine. And he said: “We are going to beat that”.’
Brown gritted his teeth, felt his heart sink and sat it out to endure the rest of the night’s scouting mission.
‘There was nothing I could say to him,’ admitted Brown. ‘We weren’t at the stage of being ready to compete against them.
‘We didn’t have the infrastructure, didn’t have everything in place. I didn’t know if we were able to stop the 10.
‘I couldn’t argue with Rod. As a Celtic fan, he was loving it. As a Rangers fan, getting slapped about being second best because we never had the quality to match up to them, it was tough.
‘When he said that to his boy, I just gritted my teeth and thought to myself: “I hope we’ve got enough to do this”.’
The action at Ibrox that same evening backed up Brown’s fears. What turned out to be Pedro Caixinha’s final match in charge fittingly ended in Rangers chaos.
A red card for Ryan Jack, a missed penalty from Daniel Candeias and an equaliser for Kilmarnock by Chris Burke — all in the last two minutes of stoppage time.
The only saving grace for Brown listening to Stewart’s gravelly gloating was that he wasn’t in Govan witnessing another gut-wrenching shambles.
Brown pinpoints that evening as one of many lows on The Journey. On the drive home, he was alone with those thoughts.
Yet at no stage did he feel as lonely as after taking centre stage in June 2012 on the steps of Ibrox.
Brown quit his job as scout for Ally McCoist’s team to tackle forces inside the club who were ripping the remains of its soul apart.
Armed with information from sources he trusted implicitly, Brown called out Charles Green’s charm offensive as phoney.
Brown was out on a limb. Fans dared not believe what he screamed at them was true, that the new regime might be just as dangerous as Craig Whyte.
He was mocked mercilessly from predictable quarters as the footage of him turning the Ibrox air blue
went viral. The cheap laughs from those who should have known better were worse.
Brown recalled: ‘I got a phone call from Green’s PA because I was involved in a rival consortium to try to buy the club.
‘I went into his office. I don’t need to go into the detail of what was said but I was very close to putting one on his chin. But I thought: “No”.
‘I said: “Listen, I’m out the club now and I’ll be fighting you from the outside”.
‘I emptied my desk, called Coisty to wish him all the best. I knew the people coming in were going to strip everything out the club and my worry was that the fans didn’t know. I had to speak up.
‘But I’d quit. I was just an ex-player and a punter, while those running the club were able to control the media.
‘The aftermath affected my daughters. They saw all the criticism online — and that hurt more than anything.
‘Of course, I never got that from anyone in the street. People I met were supportive and told me to keep going. The incredible support of my wife Sandra helped me through.
‘I told my family what I’d said was all true. My mum and dad are in their 80s and were hurt when the club went that way. My family support the team and it’s part of their life.
‘But I got information back that a lot of people I’d respect for and were mates were being pretty critical. They turned their back on me, which was tough to take. To this day, it’s probably had an effect.
‘They were probably laughing at me. Did you see Bomber on the steps? Has he lost the plot? Is he this, is he that?
‘They have egg on their face. But there’s never been an apology. That doesn’t matter now. What matters is where the club is.
‘I’ve always supported the club, never been in it for myself. It was about the health of Rangers.
‘I took a lot of stick but I knew the truth would come out and I’d be vindicated.
‘A pal sent me a link last Sunday to a fans website. A punter thanked me for standing on the steps that day. I had a lump in my throat reading that when I got home from Tannadice.’
How fitting that Brown represented Rangers at Dundee United as his club’s 55th title was secured. Now on a recruitment team headed by Andy Scoulding under the overall command of Ross Wilson, Brown is in his third stint as talent-finder.
First time round he was responsible for helping Walter Smith snare talents like Carlos Cuellar for the incredible UEFA Cup run of 2008.
He returned full-time for the doomed attempt to help McCoist build on three Smith titles.
Then director of football Mark Allen asked him to move from an ambassadorial role back into scouting as part of a much-needed beefing up of a skeletal structure.
Brown speaks so highly of the jobs done by Allen and Scoulding. Of Dave King and the Three Bears — Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor.
Of John Gilligan and Paul Murray, who backed Brown’s campaigning and were on the phone immediately to invite him to Ibrox after King seized control.
Of those boardroom backers whose deep pockets funded the Gerrard investment while clearing up the mess of Caixinha’s bad buys on big contracts.
‘It’s been a great experience working at the club with proper people,’ said Brown.
‘From management to boardroom level, where there’s passion and people who put their money in their club and it stays in their club.
‘I’ve seen that develop so much over a short period, starting with Mark and Andy. Ross coming in and increasing the volume of staff and games we cover has added a lot.
Being second best because we couldn’t match them was tough as a Rangers fan
‘The building work is for next year now, winning the next trophy, keeping it going and showing this isn’t a one-off.’
It is the bad memories that make this week’s good Rangers times all the more heart-warming for Brown.
He said: ‘I was in the stand at Tannadice in 1997 when Brian Laudrup put that header in for the nine and in the dressing room after the game.
‘I just had a feeling, as it was my game in the diary to cover, that we’d win it there.
‘From going out on the Ibrox steps to being there last Sunday was the best feeling I’ve ever had.
‘To do it in the season Celtic wanted it most of all makes it sweeter for every Rangers fan.
‘I don’t know about other guys who’ve won trophies at the club and leagues. I don’t disrespect any other. I managed to win eight.
‘But it beat all that. Because of where the club has been and how close we were to going out of business, I think it’s the best of the 55.’