Safety is bottom line for Brown in worrying times
NEVER has the old wisdom about football being the most important of the unimportant things in life felt more apt than it does at the moment.
Changes of formations, hamstring tweaks. even the business of winning games and trophies tends to be viewed in context when the death toll from a pandemic is growing by the day.
As Scott Brown faced the media at Lennoxtown yesterday, three days before a clash with Rangers at Ibrox, it was impossible to shake the sense that we are now deep into uncharted territory.
As things stand, the derby goes ahead as planned in front of 50,000 supporters. But with mass gatherings thereafter advised against by the Scottish Government, it seems that closeddoors matches are in the post.
‘It is a worry for everyone,’ said the Celtic skipper. ‘We have to make sure everyone is safe first. They are saying that it will affect elderly people more and there are a lot of older people who come to our games. We have to take any precautions to make sure they are safe.’
Like any workplace yesterday, Celtic’s training base was trying to do its best to cope with the threat of coronavirus. Each visitor to the site was obliged to use hand sanitising gel with a notice on the front door confirming that selfies with players are prohibited for the time being.
‘It seems to be everywhere, to be fair,’ said Brown. ‘The club is taking all the necessary measures.
‘They are trying to make sure there aren’t people in and around the lads. We’re just training and going straight back to the house. We’re taking every precaution we possibly can, so that things can go as well as they possibly can.
‘The lads have been speaking about the situation every day. It seems to get bigger and bigger. I think there are now over 60 cases in Scotland, so everyone is keeping an eye on it.’
Amid the public health concern, preventative measures have varied from sport to sport and from country to country. Not all of them have made complete sense.
‘It was weird because before the St Mirren game, you weren’t allowed to shake hands with anyone but, at the end, you were doing it. It’s a natural thing to do,’ continued Brown.
‘Obviously, when you go back in, everyone is washing their hands and is then straight into the shower.
‘But it’s a contact sport. You are pushing against people when you are in the box and are throwing yourself about.
‘I watched the rugby the other day. They didn’t shake hands but, two minutes later, they are in a scrum, so I’m thinking that’s not really working.’
Although Sunday’s derby now seems set to go ahead as planned, Celtic’s home game with St Johnstone the following Saturday looks vulnerable, certainly in terms of spectators being granted entry. As unfortunate as that would be, it would be met with complete understanding.
‘We obviously don’t want games to go behind closed doors,’ added Brown. ‘But if the SFA and the Government say that’s what’s to happen, you’ve got to do what’s best for the country and try to keep as many people as safe as possible.’
It’s almost impossible to say how such a scenario would affect players and the outcome of any given game. But a best guess would be of a degree of home advantage being lost.
‘Someone told me there was a game years ago with Celtic and Atletico Madrid (1985) that had no fans,’ said Brown.
‘It would be weird. It doesn’t matter who you play. We love playing at Celtic Park in front of our fans and they are always there when we go to Ibrox or Easter Road or Tynecastle or wherever. It is what makes football, football.
‘I was flicking between the games on Wednesday. You had Liverpool against Atletico Madrid, which was bouncing, then the PSG versus Dortmund game when you could hear every kick of the ball and everyone shouting for it and: “Man on!”.
‘It was like two different worlds. But it is what it is. If it goes behind closed doors, it goes behind closed doors.’
Some 13 points clear at the top of the table with a vastly superior goal difference over Rangers, Celtic are one of the few clubs in the country without cause to fear the doomsday scenario of the league season failing to finish.
As Sportsmail revealed this week, by dint of their gargantuan lead, the SPFL would simply declare them champions. But the situation facing others is less clear.
‘You have got Hearts fighting a relegation battle, you have teams in the lower leagues wanting to get up through the play-offs,’ said Brown.
‘I don’t know what is going to happen. We are just going day by day but every day it seems to get more serious.’
A derby victory on Sunday would not arithmetically wrap the title up but it would edge Neil Lennon’s side to within touching distance of it.
A twin dynamic across Glasgow since the turn of the year has seen to that. As Celtic have gone from strength to strength, a draw at Livingston the only blot on their copybook, Rangers have gone into a tailspin.
‘We just focus on ourselves,’ insisted Brown. ‘We keep winning games, keep concentrating on how we are preparing for games.
‘In January, we looked at what we were not doing so well and we changed from a 4-5-1 to a 3-5-2. We can go to a 4-3-3, too. We can go into various shapes.’
While those alterations to Lennon’s preferred shape were not solely done to reinvigorate Leigh Griffiths, there is no question that the striker has been the main beneficiary.
The scorer of a hat-trick against St Mirren last Saturday, if the 29-year-old isn’t quite back to the form of three years ago, he is edging closer towards it.
‘He has been fantastic since January,’ said Brown. ‘He still has to work hard and he still has a bit to go, which he knows himself. But it is great to see a natural finisher on the park. We know how good he is. We want to see him on the park for Celtic and Scotland.
‘His link-up play with Odsonne (Edouard) has been fantastic. One goes long, one comes short and then we are seeing their wee one-twos around the corner to each other.
‘They are both unselfish when it comes to goals. They will have a wee competition, I’m sure, because all strikers want to score, but if it is an easier pass for Odsonne to play Griff, or vice-versa, then they do that.’
“Elderly people come to games. We must ensure they are safe”