Brown still captain fantastic and he’ll bounce back, insists Bitton
NIR BITTON has dismissed criticism of Celtic captain Scott Brown, insisting midfield sidekick remains the d-out player at the club. ton was the star man as Celtic ned their Europa League campaign a 2-2 draw against Ajax on Thursday night but his goalscoring lay was complemented by a strong wing from Brown, who has taken for his early-season outings for club and country. own’s form and fitness were called question after Scotland’s recent o 2016 defeat in Georgia and he n struggled to exert his usual field dominance as the champions e knocked off the top of the miership table by Aberdeen at odrie last weekend. ton insists his own faith in his ain has never wavered. Now two s at the club, the Israeli rnationalist took time to settle at ic and can recall several occasions which he had Brown to thank for ng him out. Out of a sense of lty and gratitude, he believes it is to repay the favour. he criticism of Broony is not fair,
hat’s football,’ said Bitton. metimes you don’t have the best ments but for me he is the most ortant player in the team. hen Broony plays everybody feels d when he doesn’t everybody feels too. I’m glad we have a guy like in the team. e has made me a better er — I think our bination is very good. I good next to him. I feel re next to him. He has n me a lot of confidence I just want that to inue.’ hile Bitton likes to himself on the ball dictate the tempo of with his precision ing, Brown is a more bative presence, ying the fight to the osition and ensuring dards on his own side kept high. own’s game has always wn from a deep well of gy but, of late, the ear-old has seemed to be ning at reduced power. ila has been at pains to stress there is no underlying problem with his captain, who a couple of seasons back was struggling with a hip condition that was described as ‘degenerative’ by the previous Celtic manager Neil Lennon. ‘I think Broony is fit,’ argued Bitton. ‘If he was not fit he would not be playing. Sometimes you have a bad game. You need to deal with that and come through these times. ‘He is an unbelievable player. He is the guy who makes everything happen. He sacrifices himself and it’s just a joy to play with him.’
Whether Bitton would take the same pleasure in playing against Brown is another story, but there is an outside chance it could happen as soon as November when the Euro 2016 qualifying play-offs are contested.
Both Scotland and Israel are competing to finish third in their respective sections and, although UEFA’s seeding system may well ensure the nations are kept apart if they make the draw, Bitton insists he would welcome the opportunity.
‘I’d take it!’ he said. ‘It would be exciting. It would be a good game and I know a lot of the Scotland players. But we still have two tough games to play. We play Cyprus at home next and Bosnia play Wales. If we win and Bosnia lose, then we are 100 per cent in the play-offs.’
If Israel manage to qualify, Bitton will become a history-maker. Not since the Mexico World Cup of 1970 has an Israeli team competed at a major tournament and the side has never competed at a European Championships.
‘Everybody in Israel is looking for this, we want to be at a big tournament,’ he said. ‘The last one was a long time ago, so we just want to make Israel happy.
‘It was a different time because they played in the Asian qualification but those 1970 players are legends in Israel.’
International football has given Bitton the chance to team up with Beram Kayal, the former Celtic midfielder who is now enjoying an upturn in fortunes in the English Championship with Brighton.
‘We didn’t have the chance to play together at Celtic too much but Beram is a good player,’ added Bitton. ‘He is now showing his level at Brighton and we enjoyed playing together in our recent game against Wales.
‘We were up against players like Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale, players used to the Premier League and Champions League. We got a good result (0-0) and we want it to continue.’