Gordon Waddell has become the first hack to say that if Scott Brown offers to play for Scotland again that he should be turned down. I knew it would him or one of his colleagues at that rag. I knew one of them would be first out of the gate with this.
Waddell’s article is all over the shop.
He wants Brown to “make way for the new generation”, but his complaint is that someone else would be left out.
I suspect he’s worried that Ryan Jack wouldn’t make it, because he’s the guy who plays in Brown’s role but has nowhere near the ability.
More than anything else, this is about Brown himself though.
This idea that players shouldn’t get to “pick and choose” whether they play for their country is exactly the argument I knew these halfwits would make. We know that several Ibrox players have done it down through the years and that the Association hired a manager who did it, with the media’s support.
Look, I don’t want Brown to play for the national team again, I’d rather he gave his full commitment to Celtic.
But reading this kind of bitter commentary from that hypocritical newspaper is just not on.
Brown has given more for the national team than most other players ever will.
If we reach the Euros and he wants to play, then he deserves to be considered and if he’s being considered there’s no excuse for not picking him.
The so-called “next generation” will get its chance if they are good enough. If. But right now there is no better footballer in the midfield in Scotland than Scott Brown. His leadership has taken Celtic to the last eight titles. To the last nine trophies.
But his name is Scott Brown, and that’s enough to give some people the needle.
Thankfully, Waddell and his ilk don’t get to make this decision.
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