Today, Scott Brown confirmed that he would end his fourteen year stay at Celtic Park as he signed a two-year deal to join Aberdeen as a player-coach. With twenty-two majors honours won in his time at the club, Brown will always be remembered as a Celtic legend. However, with the player set to leave at the end of the season, the club have some time to identify a replacement, not only on the park but off of it as well. Brown is a sensational leader for the club, pushing on his teammates to new heights as well as using his experience when times get tough.
In the last two seasons, Celtic have lost Mikael Lustig and Craig Gordon but have not been able to adequately replace them. Lustig left after negotiations left the Swedish defender chasing a more stable option for his family with a one-year extension not enough. His departure saw three right-backs signed. None of which are at the club anymore. Bauer, Frimpong and Elhamed all tried to become a mainstay with the ex-Man City kid making a surprise breakthrough before leaving for Bayer Leverkusen in the January window this year. Lustig, who has 85 caps, was an integral part of the Treble Treble sides of the past but his steady influence helped the club push on from one success to the next.
Gordon failed to agree a contract extension with Celtic leaving him free to join his boyhood club after a number of trophy-laden years with the Scottish Champions. The 37-year-old was in impressive form between the sticks for the Jam Tarts as they booked a place in the 2020 Scottish Cup Final, setting up a repeat of the 2019 Final. Celtic won both encounters but it was a third choice goalie that started in the nets for Celtic that day. Vasilis Barkas was signed as the replacement for Gordon/Forster from AEK Athens but has found himself in the wilderness after a poor debut season. Scott Bain has the gloves at the moment but both he and Conor Hazard had spells in the nets as Neil Lennon tried to address the poor form this year.
David Marshall has been tipped as a stop-gap signing for next season and Celtic could really do a lot worse than the Scotland No.1. His maturity as well as continued performance mean that a move would certainly be worth it even if it is for a season or two.
Celtic need to make sure that these three positions are adequately replaced ahead of the new season as losing the 190 plus caps will severely hurt the club if there are no replacements for leadership and experience. After Friday’s final Six Nations game, Celtic need to expedite the appointment of Dominic McKay so that the new structure can begin to take shape.
