Gary Caldwell and Scott Brown will face-off in England’s League One today as Exeter City and Fleetwood Town clash. Both ex-Celts have moved in to management since having up their boots’ and now the former teammates have the chance to get the better of one another this weekend.
Celtic signed both players from Hibernian and each man individually mad their own and very unique contribution to the cause for the Hoops. Caldwell was a stalwart in defence under Gordon Strachan back in the day and formed a lasting partnership with Stephen McMannus, playing Champions League group stage football against the very best.
Likewise, Brown signed for the Bhoys during Strachan’s tenure and went on to have 14 wonderful years in a green and white shirt. Full of eenergy and youthful exuberance, Brown developed over the years and eventually settled down into the leading role at the club. After being handed the captaincy by Tony Mowbray, he went on to retain that accolade for some years after.
Now as they prepare to test themselves against one another in the management game, the former Celtic men are looking forward to the test. Caldwell said of the potential contest: “Scott is someone I had great success with at Celtic, I played with him when he was a young player at Hibs and obviously the national team as well, as reported by Football Scotland. “He was a fantastic player and is a good person. He knows how to win football matches and when you are at Celtic for as long as he was, then you are under no illusions how to win football matches and what it takes to be successful because second at that club is not good enough.
“He can live with that pressure and I am sure that he has found management different and a challenge. It’s been his first year, but he has done a fantastic job. Like I said, knowing the person and the player, then at the very least we will be in for a very competitive game. The technical area might need some subtitles and policing at some points! But apart from that, it should be okay.”
Brown is also looking forward to facing off against his old teammate at Celtic and Scotland, as he said of the League One match up: “It’ll be fine coming up against Gary as we’ve got great respect for each other. I know him well, so I know he’ll have his team working hard as they’ll be organised.”
Paul Gillespie
