Brown emboldened by the transformation in Celtic under Rodgers and insists he’s now playing the best football of his career at 31
SCOTT BROWN admits he is playing the best football of his career under Brendan Rodgers but reckons the real gauge of the Celtic manager’s impact can be seen in the transformation of a team that was reliant on one single player before his arrival.
If a rest cure was required to bring Brown’s body back from the brink last summer, the midfielder admits Rodgers also encouraged him to adjust his brain in order to think about the game differently as he approached the new campaign.
If Brown, now 31, emerged looking stronger and sharper than ever, the same could be said of the team as a whole.
Had Leigh Griffiths not been around to knock in 40 goals last term, Brown worries about the fate that might have befell Ronny Deila’s Premiershipwinning side.
This term, the goals have been spread in a much more democratic fashion, with Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and Tom Rogic all regularly appearing on the scoresheet.
Rodgers’ team concluded their Champions League group campaign with a creditable 1-1 draw away to Manchester City in midweek, the performance displaying a confidence and assurance that had withered away prior to the change of manager last summer.
‘I think that applied to everyone,’ agreed Brown. ‘Last season we were playing 65-70 minutes and we were struggling. We’d be looking at the clock thinking we haven’t scored, we have got to rely on Griff here. We’d hope the wee man would score us a worldy and, to be fair, most of the time he did. Now we have him coming off the bench, Moussa is scoring the goals and leading the line really well.’
Although the decision to appoint and invest in the former Liverpool manager represented a serious statement of intent from the club, Brown conceded that he felt it would take a lot longer for even a coach of Rodgers’ quality to turn things round.
The pair famously dined at Rodgers’ London home to discuss his plans for the new season but even then Brown’s expectations were tempered by how far the team had slipped.
‘After last season I thought it would take a lot of time to change things because I felt he needed to bring in a lot players,’ continued Brown. ‘He brought in a couple — Scott Sinclair, who has been brilliant, and Moussa, who’s also been outstanding.
‘Kolo Toure has shown himself to be a proper leader as well and that’s been key. They have been good lads in the dressing room, not just on the park. We have a great team spirit. There is no one there who you think you don’t want to talk to or who is not going to perform for you, who won’t put their body on the line for you.’
As last term petered out, it looked like Brown was struggling to put his own body on the line, his hamstrings eventually packing in sometime around the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers in April.
He retreated from the frontline and doubts persisted over his continued effectiveness even after Rodgers declared he would ‘150 per cent’ be his captain for the new season, even comparing him to Steven Gerrard, his former on-field leader at Anfield.
Brown responded by flying out of the traps and dominating games by combining the energy and aggression of his youth with a heightened level of game intelligence.
‘I’m maturing into half decent, aren’t I?’ quipped Brown. ‘It has only taken 15 years! I think, for me, it is enjoying football, coming in with a smile on your face, playing alongside top-quality players for a top-quality manager, who wants to play football the way I have always believed it should be played.
‘I think tactically he has made me better. He sits down and analyses the game for me, making sure I don’t just run, chase the ball and blow my energy by 70 minutes.
‘I try to get on the ball, keep the ball. We all want to score a couple of goals here and there but my job is just to sit in front of the back four and try to control that area as much as possible and try to prevent counter attacks.’
If Brown is smitten with his manager then the feeling is mutual. Rodgers maintains that he knew instantly he could hang his hat on the captain but was less convinced by the midfielders around him.
Stefan Johansen, a regular under Deila, was swiftly sold to Fulham,
while Nir Bitton has been demoted from automatic starter to occasional substitute appearances.
In their places have come Stuart Armstrong, who has rediscovered the zest that earned him a £2million move from Dundee United, and Rogic, the Australian ball technician who is finally realising his potential after years of injury problems.
For Rodgers, the sight of those two joining Brown in an impressive showing against the strongest area of an otherwise experimental City side on Tuesday was hugely encouraging.
‘I thought the midfield three were brilliant, they were up against three proper players in Fernando, Pablo Zabaleta and (Ilkay) Gundogan,’ said Rodgers.
‘At the beginning of the campaign, I felt we had Scott Brown in midfield playing against two or three and now we have three players who are all connected.
‘All three of them have to learn how to play together, how to be synchronized in terms of their movement, their spaces, their positioning and they were brilliant in terms of their energy to press.
‘You will do well to see Man City play so many long balls from their goalkeeper and back three.
‘Stu is getting better all the time, in terms of consolidating the game in certain areas. You have to keep the ball at that level and keep it with a purpose. Not be frightened to make simple passes.
‘Tom has huge potential. His bodywork is as good as you’ll get. He and Adam Lallana are of that same mould where they just roll out of trouble. The best players know where the space is. ‘He came here injured but technically he’s so gifted. And he’s physically better.’
‘LAST SEASON WE WERE PLAYING 65-70 MINUTES AND REALLY STRUGGLING. WE’D LOOK AT THE CLOCK THINKING WE HAVEN’T SCORED AND WE WOULD BE RELYING ON GRIFF SCORING US A WORLDY’