Watching Celtic captain Scott Brown struggle to cover the Hampden pitch against Rangers earlier in the month I started to think that he’d morphed into Barry Ferguson, during the former Gers captain’s later years.

Both midfielders would talk a good game beforehand, would show passion through gritted teeth and would shout their heads off as frantic games passed them by.

Now I am not one that is critical of a player just because of one game, yes the Old Firm is a huge encounter but even the best players have had an off day.

But it seems like the Scottish international has been more disappointing than not this term both for club and country and both domestically and in Europe. He has played thirty-three times during this campaign, where he’s only managed one goal and one solitary assist. That simply isn’t good enough.

The bigger games seem to be passing him by and that can’t go on. Issues still surround his overall fitness and he doesn’t seem as sharp and also seems to becoming slower.

Last season before the League Cup final Brown was pictured on the street full of the bevy. The club and manager Ronny Deila stated that it wasn’t a major issue.

After the Cup Final, which Brown was awarded man of the match for his performance, Deila said:

“Scott was home at 10.30pm, although it looks like he was home at 6 in the morning. He was drinking, he had a day off the day after. I have no rules about that. I’ve said the players have to be fit and Scott Brown is the fittest player we have.”

That flies in the face of Deila’s previous comments about his players being ’24 hour athletes’.

But a year on the truth is that Brown is no longer Celtic’s fittest player and he often plays like a shadow of his former self.

Now I said at the time it might have been better for Deila to have been more ruthless with Brown and shown the squad that he cannot be crossed with.

Walter Smith’s influence on his Rangers squad was only strengthened when he stripped the captaincy off Barry Ferguson when he too had his issues with alcohol and bad press coverage.

Brown, like Ferguson often did at the end of his career, is trying to play on reputation alone and at the moment is shows up badly.

If the central midfielder isn’t fit enough then he has to manage himself better and the club have to manage him better too.

You cannot question his commitment to the cause but sometimes that over commitment can harm his body and harm the team. That’s why a confident coach should take him aside and possibly play him less or give him a period of time off as he recuperates and heals his body.

I am not going to write Scott off, that would be far too easy and naive. Plus with the right guidance I’m sure the soon to be thirty-one year old can turn things around.

Also sometimes just a change in manager can revitalise the squad and/or bring in a few new faces that could add competition and create hunger in Brown’s belly.

One thing is for sure though, Scott Brown has to try and learn from this season and improve next term.

He said he wants more titles but talk is cheap in football, next season he’ll have to prove his ambition on the park.

Posted on April 26th, 2016 by scott
Filed under: Article