Brown has cast aside his pain and is keen on a repeat of derby rout to keep Celts on track
PLAYING through the pain barrier is normally seen as a badge of honour. For Scott Brown, it’s an occupational hazard. Occasionally, however, discretion proves to be the better part of valour. As hard as it may be to withdraw from the line of duty, the greater good is not always served by necking painkillers and gritting teeth.
Back at Hampden yesterday to promote Celtic’s Betfred Cup semi-final with Rangers on Sunday, the Celtic skipper might well have experienced some ghost pains.
On his last visit here in April to face the same opponents at the same stage of the Scottish Cup, Brown was physically a broken man.
Believing he could succeed in putting mind over matter for 90 minutes, he hopped and hobbled to no great effect.
A failure to take care of the then Championship side inside regulation time extended his discomfort by a further half-hour. By the time Rangers had triumphed on penalties, his physical pain was equal to the onset of mental anguish.
With hindsight, Brown now admits, his decision to play while nowhere near fully fit was flawed in the extreme.
‘I think it’s the Scottish mentality,’ said Brown. ‘Every Scottish player, if you gave them the chance to play in a Rangers v Celtic semi-final, everyone would bite your hand off for it.
‘If someone says to me: “Are you fit to play”, I’m always there to play for anyone.
‘Looking back, maybe I shouldn’t have. But, at the end of the day, we still had the chances to easily win the game. If we’d scored early doors with a couple of chances it might have been different. Even I managed to get up the park somehow.’
You wonder how far Brown would have got that day had Brendan Rodgers been in charge. A seat in the main stand would have been a decent bet.
Ronny Deila, however, never struck you as the kind of man to take decisions out of the hands of his senior players. What they said, he tended not to question.
‘No one tried to persuade me against playing,’ admitted Brown (right). ‘If any player says they are good to go, the manager puts faith and trust in you.
‘What percentage was I fit? I don’t know. It was just aches and pains and coming back too early from injuries and trying to pull through.
‘Not being 100 per cent fit and playing in Rangers v Celtic games is always hard for anybody. You always say you can get through the one game but you need that proper match fitness, sharpness and training.’
It’s pretty evident now that Brown — and his team-mates — have the requisite level of conditioning for the tasks they are being asked to perform.
Under Deila, those requiring medical assistance were forced to form an orderly queue. It cannot be coincidence that line has subsequently been reduced to a trickle.
Whatever Rodgers’ backroom staff are now doing right, few have reaped the benefits more than the man who will lead them out on Sunday.
‘I can run again,’ smiled Brown. ‘I feel back to my old self. I can get about the park for 90 minutes. That’s not a problem.
‘There are no little aches or pains any more. I just need to continue doing what I’m doing just now.
‘It’s been good under the gaffer — training has been harder and fitness levels have gone through the roof yet again.’
It takes more than reduced body fat to become overnight contenders for the knockout stages of the Champions League, however. Without an appearance in the group stage for three years, Celtic’s display against Manchester City three weeks back gave rise to the notion that there was no limit to what Rodgers’ side might achieve upon their return. A rather tame surrender to Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday underlined how enormous the task of winning points at this level remains. ‘We’re a little bit disappointed but I think we were playing against a topquality team,’ reflected Brown. ‘It was always going to be a hard group. After the Man City result everyone fancied us to go and beat Borussia Monchengladbach two or 3-0 but it was never going to be that way, especially if people had watched their games and seen the way they keep the ball. ‘I think in the last couple of games they have had something like 70-per-cent possession, so it was always going to be hard to play against. ‘They are a top-quality team and, watching their movement and the way they passed the ball and closed down, it’s what we need to learn to become a top-quality team.’
I’m always there to play for anyone if they want me