When Scott Brown was unveiled as a Celtic player back in 2007, it was the culmination of a protracted transfer saga involving the now defunct Rangers and the club he would ultimately go on to captain to nine successive League titles.
Bids of £4.4m from both clubs had already been agreed with Hibs, and in truth Rangers looked to be the favourites to sign the talented Brown, particularly as they had signed Broony’s pal and fellow midfielder Kevin Thomson.
As such the reckless spending Ibrox club were expected to be in pole position to conclude the deal, as they looked to reunite the two midfielders who had emerged within a golden generation of young Hibs academy talents.
Yet despite Ibrox looking the likely destination for a record Scottish transfer it was the double team approach of club legend Tommy Burns and then manager Gordon Strachan who eventually persuaded Brown – Speaking to the ‘Off The Record’ podcast that Celtic was the club for him and saved him from playing a part in the demise of Rangers.
With Brown, now manager at Fleetwood Town in England’s League 1, eventually submitting to Burns incessant text messages and Strachan’s vision for how he saw the player developing as a footballer under his coaching.
“Both bids had been accepted so it was up to me as to where I was going to go. So I went and met Walter and I went and met Ally (McCoist). I knew them from the Scotland set-up and obviously I knew Tommy (Burns) as well.
“When I went to meet Rangers, I was getting text messages from Tommy saying, ‘Come on wee man, you know the place to go! You know where your heart belongs, I’ll look after you,’. It was the usual Tommy.
“Then I went to meet Celtic down in London and I was getting all the same stuff from Coisty! It was like you were jumping in between two of them – two great guys and two great coaches. I still get on well with Coisty now when I speak to him.
“But as soon as I went down, I spoke to Gordon (Strachan), I spoke to Peter (Lawwell) and I spoke to Tommy and I knew there was only one place that I wanted to go – the way they treated me and the way they saw me playing in the team. What they expected of me for the next four, five years of my contract.
“Gordon set demands on me straight away. He told me how to go and play in different positions. He said, ‘You’re not just going to run about like a headless case wee man. I’m going to turn you into a holding midfielder or an attacking midfielder – whatever you want. But you’re not getting a free role like you did at Hibs.
“You’re going to understand the game and you’re going to learn the game as well,’. For me to get that understanding from a top quality player as Gordon was – and a good manager as well, it meant a lot.”
Yet within two years and with Gordon Strachan now replaced by Tony Mowbray as the Celtic boss – a period in the club’s history that was to unravel entirely – Broony had gone from the most sought-after and expensive young player in Scotland, to the verge of a transfer out of the club.
Yet for those who believe in some kind of fate, Brown not only remained a Celtic player, instead, somewhat unbelievably, the manager who looked keen to punt him was soon to hand him the captain’s armband. Yet it could have been much different had it not been for Brown’s determination to prove himself as a Celtic player.
“I understand new managers come in and want to bring in their own players. But I was there to prove a point. Just because the manager said to me, ‘Yeah, you can leave’ that was me. I was like, ‘Yeah sure I can! I’ll make sure I’m still here. I’ll be playing, mate. Week in week out!’
“Then, at the end of the window, somehow I ended up becoming captain. I don’t know how that worked! But it happened. Incredible moments like that change you. I maybe wasn’t playing my best and Peter Grant (Mowbray’s assistant) said he’d drive me anywhere! But that’s one thing I’ll never regret, that’s for sure.
“I stayed, I fought for my place and I showed everybody I deserved to be in the starting XI. I don’t remember Tony dropping me that much after that!
“I came back from injury, I came on, got the captaincy and played at left back! Maybe he didn’t fancy me as a centre midfielder! He maybe wanted to bring his own people in or thought he could get better at Celtic which is fine. It never really bothered me.
“A lot of managers came in and probably didn’t fancy me at the time. But I stayed there a lot longer than most managers did. And I stayed because of my willingness to work hard, to improve and to learn the way they wanted me to play. I would do whatever I could do just to make the team better.
“I think he probably offered it to 10 other people. I was probably the only one who said ‘aye’ at the time! But I’ll always be fully appreciative to Tony for giving me that armband, whether he wanted to give me it or not. It gave me the opportunity to maybe grow up a little bit, to become more of a man.
“To become a proper leader on the park and in the dressing room as well. Because everyone knew what I was – I was full of energy, a bit wild in the dressing room and enjoyed some good banter.
“But as soon as I stepped over that white line I was 100 per cent serious. I wanted to win. I couldn’t accept getting beat and I’m similar now as a manager.
“It shows you there are always going to be little speed bumps, no matter what. Nobody’s career is going to be all plain sailing. Everyone thought Messi was always going to stay at Barcelona but somehow he ends up leaving the club.
“These things happen – you can’t write everything in the stars and you can’t always think you’ll be the first choice on the team sheet. Whether I was or I wasn’t, I had to work to earn my place. I made sure I did that every day. I never really gave another manager the chance to drop me.”
Scott Brown arguably didn’t fulfil his full potential until Brendan Rodgers arrived at Celtic. However, not only did he fulfil that potential, he arguably exceeded expectations under the manager who would deliver that incredible ‘Invincible’ season.
Yet it could all have been so different for Broony. Had he signed on at Ibrox he would have witnessed the demise of the Ibrox club from within, and had he taken up Peter Grant on his offer to drive him anywhere he wished to sign, then Celtic would have been denied the talents of an on-field leader who would go down as one of Celtic’s all-time greats.
Yet the real success story here is not simply down to Burns or Strachan’s powers of persuasion, or indeed the short-sightedness of Tony Mowbray kicking Brown into action, or even the transformational approach to coaching and tactics that saw Brown reborn under Rodgers.
Instead, it is the player himself and his inner determination to succeed at Celtic, that ultimately transferred to those who shared a dressing room with Scott Brown and drove them all on to write their own successful chapter in the rich history of a club with many, many penned.
And there may yet be more to come from the Scott Brown and his Celtic story. Now cutting his teeth in management down south, it may well be that one-day Brown is back at Celtic ready to prove himself as a Celtic manager in much the same way as he did as a player. Some things are written in the stars perhaps.
Niall J
No thanks! Great servant to the club as a player, lets leave it at that; we don’t need or want another Neil Lennon