Celtic need Brown for rebuild ... it would be crazy to let him go
THE winds of change are blowing through Celtic and Aberdeen. By the time next season comes around, both clubs will have a new manager at the helm.
When the news broke last week that Derek McInnes had parted company with the Dons, I can’t say I was overly surprised.
It felt like it had been coming. Even prior to this season, things had gone stale. McInnes knew he was under pressure and that results simply weren’t good enough.
He had the third-biggest budget in the league at his disposal, yet Aberdeen finished fourth behind Kilmarnock and Motherwell in each of the past two seasons.
McInnes spoke of trying to make the fans fall in love with the club again this season. But it didn’t work. It always felt like he was fighting a losing battle.
The only slight surprise is that the club pulled the trigger now, rather than give him until the summer.
Stephen Glass remains the favourite to take over from McInnes, with suggestions that Scott Brown could leave Parkhead in the summer to join him as a player-coach at Pittodrie.
From Celtic’s point of view, it should be a complete non-starter. They would be crazy to let a man of Brown’s experience and stature just walk out the door.
If it’s likely to be a summer of upheaval at Aberdeen then that applies tenfold to what will be going on at Celtic. The club are facing a rebuild of epic proportions.
Planning should already be well under way. The longer they leave it and the longer they drag their heels, the greater the risk of starting next season behind the eight-ball.
It’ll be the biggest overhaul the club have faced in a generation. The playing squad is likely to be unrecognisable next season. There could be upwards of a dozen players who leave.
They will have to be replaced with an influx of new faces and fresh talent, with a new manager and technical director likely to be overseeing the full operation.
In effect, the club is set to undergo open-heart surgery. Brown is the perfect man to help provide an element of stability and continuity. He can help the transition.
In terms of Celtic’s greatest-ever captains, Brown is second on the list. Only Billy McNeill stands above him. That’s how important he has been.
He will turn 36 in June, so he’s obviously not going to play every week. He will know that he will have to take a slight wage cut if he signs a new deal at Parkhead.
But his experience will be invaluable. The club should be making it a matter of urgency to get him signed up for next season.
In fact, this should actually have been sorted months ago. A club legend like Brown shouldn’t be left in limbo like this, with just a couple of months left on his contract.
Brendan Rodgers always used to speak about a five-year plan for players. That applies even more to senior figures like Brown.
If Celtic had their affairs in order, Brown’s future would already be mapped out. But, in keeping with everything else at Celtic over the past 12 months, they are just making it up as they go along.
Look at what happened with Craig Gordon last summer. They let him walk out the door on a free and have never replaced him. He’d still be Celtic’s No 1 right now if they had kept him. He’s head and shoulders above any of the keepers currently at Parkhead. The way he was treated by the club last summer was embarrassing, given the service he had given over the years and the trophies he had won. Brown was coaching the youth teams when I was at Celtic and he is obviously keen to pursue a career in coaching once he retires. He’s the perfect role model for young kids. He sets standards and he demands the very best from everyone around him.
You can never have too many people like that in the dressing room and around the club in general. He’s a true leader of men.
If Aberdeen do make him a concrete offer, it might be tempting in the sense that he would be likely to play more for them than he would for Celtic.
That would be a tough decision for him to make. But Celtic shouldn’t even allow it to get to that stage. Brown has a key role to play in how the club rebuilds itself. He has been a loyal servant to the club over the years.
He had an offer from Newcastle United a few years ago which could have seen him treble his wages. He had the chance to move to Australia in 2019. He was offered eye-watering sums of money and the chance to start a new life Down Under.
But he turned them all down. He’s a Celtic man through and through. The club need to wake up and give themselves a shake. If they allow Brown to walk out the door in the summer, it would be a huge mistake.