When I heard recently that Scott Brown was getting his coaching badges it seemed to assume that had Lennon, Kennedy and the rest remained at the club that his first coaching job would have come at Parkhead.
It would be wrong if that happened now.
Brown will probably be a good coach. He has the temperament for it and he knows football. His best years came under Rodgers and he has served under Lennon and Deila as well, and will have seen the things to do and not to. He has always been a leader, and his name will carry gravitas in any dressing room he steps into.
But for now it can’t be Celtic’s.
Scott Brown has been a magnificent servant to Celtic, and we all know that this is true. He has a trophy haul which would rival any in the business on this island. The man is a Celtic legend, but before he gets a job on the coaching staff here he has to prove himself somewhere else. Let him earn his spurs. Let him show us all what he can do … from a distance.
The reasons are obvious; how many more of our heroes do you want to see ruined by the club at the moment? Let Scott demonstrate his talents and hone the skills he needs and then, by all means, bring him home.
If he has experience in management all the better.
There is an interesting vacancy for a manager’s job in Scotland, but I don’t believe Aberdeen will hire Brown any more than I think they will offer the gig to Kennedy. I think Kennedy getting the offer would be interesting.
I implore Aberdeen not even to consider Lennon; he needs time away from the game whatever he might have said on TV last night.
I don’t know whether Stephen Glass is in the running for the job or not; two 14th place finishes with a team in the US Soccer League (the one below the MLS) doesn’t suggest he is remotely qualified for it, but they, like us, might take a punt on an ex-player and hope that it’s enough to tug on the heart strings.
If he gets it he wants Brown as player/assistant.
On that, at least, you can say that his judgement is decent. It would be a major coup for Aberdeen to get Scott into those jobs. And Celtic must not stand in his way if the offer comes along. Brown should not get a new Celtic contract; I hate that he’s going out in a season like this one, but his legacy is at safe and nobody will hold this one against him.
But to see Scott Brown become a bit-part player, or worse; to see him stumble through another campaign looking like a boxer past his best … that would be the real tragedy for him and for us.
The job as assistant at Aberdeen is a cracking opportunity for him, and he should be considering what happens if Glass isn’t up to it … there’s a chance for him to step into a management job much sooner than he would otherwise have thought possible.
This can be the making of him, it can be the job that sets up the next phase of his career. I would hope to God we would not stand in his way, not after he’s given us so much, not after he has shown us all remarkable loyalty and commitment.
This is the right time for him to go, and the opportunity is a great one for him to take. Yes, there are a lot of if’s and but’s attached to this story – Glass has to get the job and that’s by no means a lock based on his managerial history.
Should this alignment of the planets go as Glass wants it, Scott should definitely take the step up and Celtic should wish him well and bid him farewell. At least a while.
[snack-countdown title=”Celtic’s Countdown To Champions League Disaster” date=”06/20/2021″ time=”00:00:00″ colour=”#000″ textColour=”#FFF”]