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The Press Think Celtic’s Former Captain Was Praising Boyd Today. He Wasn’t.

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Scott Brown is in the news today, and he deserves to be.

He’s in the news and making jokes about Kris Boyd, jokes which I suspect are very tongue in cheek.

When he was asked if he had ever fancied a job as a pundit he joked about not wanting to get his teeth done like the ex-Ibrox striker, and then said that Boyd “knows football inside out.”

Ha! That’s funny as anyone who has ever watched the smirking fool knows well.

Boyd barely understands the basics of the game, let alone reckons with it in any detail.

Those who understand the mechanics of it go into management. Those who are lucky to have been able to play football, because they were never going to wind up at Glaxo-Smith, go into punditry.

Punditry, especially in Scotland, is one of the only professions that you can get into with no knowledge of the business in question and get away with talking absolute mince.

But those who’ve stepped foot in that dugout know that it’s a place which offers you nowhere to hide.

In that box you are examined, tested and the bad ones are found out.

Boyd is a pundit because that’s all that grinning wide-boy was ever going to be.

Management chews these guys up and spits them out.

Look how many of that era at Ibrox – the Smith-McCoist years – have gone on to try it and fail. Brown played under genuine greats of the management game … he didn’t learn his trade under long ball merchants.

Brown is a courageous man for stepping into that maelstrom.

He is obviously far more confident about his knowledge in the game than those who would snipe from the side-lines. That’s why I know his comments today – all of them – were tongue in cheek.

He is telling Boyd “stick to running your mouth off.”

Since that’s easy to do.

Since people will actually pay you to do it.

Because otherwise he might have to possess talent and skill and genuinely understand the sport.

As a manager it does not matter how bright your smile is; Brendan Rodgers may be the only person in the business vain enough to have his teeth done for doing post-match interviews.

But it takes more than that to make it in the high pressure world of a boss.

Brown has proved what it takes by the simple act of wanting to do the job.

The rest, he’ll learn as he goes.

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  • Johnny Green says:

    Sean, I know you drink in The Brazen Head and Kitty O’Sheas, so that makes you a true Tim who knows everything about Celtic. I also know that you are very intelligent and it is only predictive text that gives you the occasional problem with your grammar. You and I are most certainly kindred spirits.

    I just delivered that comment with Broonie’s trademark cheeky smirk. 🙂

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