After being such a successful player in the game and carving out a career by being very much his own man, Scott Brown has vowed to continue in this vein as a manager. The 37-year-old former Celtic captain has taken his first steps into the management side of the game after retiring at the end of last season.
Brown, who and always been a devisive figure during his playing days, has revealed that he had learned bucket loads from his old bosses; and there has been plenty of them. Brought to Parkhead by Gordon Strachan from Easter Road back in the summer of 2007, the Hoops heirarchy broke the bank to secure him for around £4.4 million, such was his promise. Following Strachan, he was part of the unfortunate reign of Tony Mowbray during darker times for the club.
Then he was given a key role under Neil Lennon during his first stint in charge of the club, being a focal point of the midfield and working excellently well with both Victor Wanyama and Welshman Joe Ledley. Norwegian Ronny Deila continued to use Brown as the captain and go-between for the management and squad, but it’s safe to say he never got the best out of Brown as he looked to be on his way out of the club at that point. However, Brendan Rodgers arrived and breathed new life into the skipper who went on to win a quadruple treble afterwards.
Brown then decided to call time on his Hoops career the season before last when Ange Postecoglou was brought into Celtic Park. Moving to Aberdeen, it was strange to play against such a towering figure in our recent history, yet he still managed to do Celtic a favour or two along the way. Now he has retired though, he has said he will use the experience of working under all those who coached him at one point, but that he will go his own way ultimately.
He said: “I was helping Celtic’s Under 20s and they were going everywhere for matches –— Sunderland, Newcastle, the home games at Morton were two and a half hours away from my house. It started to affect my game and Brendan said, ‘Look, there’s loads of time for coaching’. He prolonged my career,” Brown stated as reported by Daily Mail.
After sitting in during coaching meetings with Brendan Rodgers and his backroom team during his time with Celtic, he explained how it was kept simple. He said: “I was done and dusted. ‘At Celtic, Brendan told me if I’m ever going into a job, make sure the information flows properly.
“Don’t send them too many messages. For me, someone saying to keep it simple was amazing. I was sat in the meetings thinking, ‘Right, Jesus — false full backs, he comes up here, he goes up the line’, and Brendan just says, ‘You go there, you move here’. It’s easy. Football is hard enough without me reinventing the wheel. Make things clear. Some lads sit there after 15 minutes and think, “flaming hell, is it time for me to get out now?’
“Wee Strachan, what a guy,’ Brown said. I’ve carried on talking to (the three bosses) since coming in. It’s important to take small bits from all of them. There will be different facets of their training I impress on to the lads and put my own twist on. Don’t go in and copy a manager. We are different people with different mannerisms. It’s different to Celtic here, too. We want young players doing well here, knowing they can succeed and then be sold on to a bigger club. That’s what we need to do to survive.”
Brown was sold on the idea of Fleetwood Town by the owner, Andy Pilley, who is looking for a major turnaround after his club finished in a lowly 20th position last time out. He revealed: “I’ve not lost my head yet! I’m chilled but want standards. I’m not saying everybody has to be like me, because that doesn’t work, but if people don’t hit standards then fine, someone else will come in.
‘There are small things I wanted as a player — to win every small game, win the races, sharpest over a short distance. They’ve got that drive and that is how you pull the team behind you. A lot of people wrote me off. I just kept coming back in and showing I was fitter than everyone else. It’s mind over matter. This has been a sharp learning curve here because I retired and two days later got the job. I couldn’t have got a better opportunity. The training facilities are fantastic, right up there with Aberdeen and Celtic. I’ve been backed this summer. Fleetwood: why not?”
Paul Gillespie
