SCOTT BROWN still does not understand what he was supposed to have done wrong in the recent Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park. Last Friday, accompanied by top Sports QC Nick de Marco, The Celtic captain went along to Hampden to hear what exactly the Scottish FA were alleging when they decided to charge him with ‘not acting in the best interests of association football’.
It seems that the charges didn’t actually amount to much and Broony was cleared and thus avoided any suspension that could have kept him out of the return match at Ibrox next weekend.
“I’m delighted. I don’t think I did anything really wrong. For me, I spoke to the lawyer and he was happy to go forward with it, and I spoke to Peter (Lawwell) as well. The SFA had to do something about it but they were happy enough at the end of the day that I didn’t overstep the mark,” Broony explained to the media at The Celtic kit launch event yesterday, as reported in Evening Times.
“I walked away. I got smacked in the face and punched. I stood up and I walked away from when it was all going on, because somebody is usually looking to blame me so I made sure I stayed well clear of it all.
“Why was I charged? You tell me. I’ve not got a clue. I had to ask the lawyer what that was. I still don’t know. But the SFA was happy enough when we looked at the footage that I didn’t do anything wrong.
“I had people jumping over me at Ibrox the last time. I took it on the chin, I walked away. Each to their own. They did well they managed to beat us at the end of December. They celebrated and I just walked down the tunnel and whatever happened when they came down the tunnel, celebrating and shouting, I just walked into the changing rooms.
“They celebrate, I celebrate. But we won, went 11 points clear and they obviously didn’t like the way we were celebrating.”
The media then asked Broony if he felt that, even though he’d done nothing wrong, had he acted as a Celtic captain should (remarkable!) but The Celtic skipper was having none of that either.
“I don’t care. I celebrated with my team-mates and a fight kicked off – and I walked away from it.
“Somebody elbowed me in the face and I walked away from it. Somebody punched me in the face and I walked away from it. If I was a hooligan, I’d have started a brawl in the middle of the pitch. But I just walked away from it all. I didn’t want to get myself booked or suspended. I think I acted quite well on the day,” the Celtic captain stated.
Broony also pointed out that the Rangers players made sure that everyone at Celtic knew that they had won and were celebrating wildly on 29 December but no-one at Celtic then started a shoving match or a punch-up as a result of their celebrations.
“We all respected that they were celebrating and they wanted to enjoy themselves. They caught up with us on points, although we had a game in hand,” Broony said.
“That was when we realised that we had to turn it around, get focused and we got ourselves ready for Rangers to come to Celtic Park. For us to get the goal quite late on to win the game was emotional and it is always going to be.
“People maybe saw that as a turning point in the league and they did not really like that. For me, it was a great day, it was enjoyable and it put us in a great place.”
Brown admitted that he was amazed that he seemed to have been public enemy number one after the 2-1 win over the Rangers at the end of March – despite everyone seeing that it was the Rangers players who were elbowing, punching and starting the aggressive stuff at the final whistle. What does the tell The Celtic Captain? he was asked.
“That I’m doing something right! If people hate me it puts a smile on my face. It must mean I’m either playing well or I’m noising somebody up in the wrong way.
“I don’t start anything. I just sit back, take it, watch it all, and hopefully at the end of the game we are celebrating.
“Football is football. You win, you celebrate, you enjoy yourself and after that for me it is forgotten about. There are always a few angry punters or a few angry players who don’t like something but that is part and parcel of the game and not everyone will agree.”
And The Celtic captain has warned the haters and his critics in the media that he’s too long in the tooth now to change his ways so there will be more of the same coming their way over the next couple of seasons at least.
“I am 33. I have two years left. What would be the point? Let’s be honest. I have done not bad. I think I have had five red cards since coming to Celtic in almost 600 games. There are a lot of people with worst records and I seem to get the blame for most things.
“Every pundit, punter and ex-assistant managers ( he was referring to John Collins) as well tried to have a little go at me so that was nice.”
???? Morelos sees red in the #OldFirm!
Andy Gray calls him a "liability" and a "loose cannon" and wants #RangersFC to sell him!#SPFL #CELRAN ???? HD11 pic.twitter.com/zkRwpodMJQ
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) March 31, 2019
Broony will look to lead Celtic to their 8th consecutive title win this weekend at Pittodrie then will get himself ready for his appearance at Ibrox the next weekend when the Rangers captain James Tavernier will be in charge of organising the Guard of Honour for Broony and the rest of the 8IAR champions – see HERE.
The Celtic skipper is certainly looking forward to his day in Govan.
“It will be fun. They are always great games. They are good for everyone to watch and it’s great for Scottish football. It gets a lot of viewers for tele and if that helps improve the game and get money into the game then that is the way we need to go about it.
“I think for everyone it is a Rangers-Celtic game, whether I play at Hearts or Aberdeen, people get on to you. I take a lot but all I have done is celebrate with the Celtic fans after the game and if they can give it out for 90 minutes I am sure they can take it back for 10 seconds.”
