Scott Brown has chosen the hard road. But it might yet lead him to Celtic one day.

There will be a variety of reactions across Celtic cyberspace to the news that Scott Brown has been sacked by Ayr United.

You can already see some of them. The posts, the podcasts, the subtle and not so subtle suggestions that maybe now is the time for him to come “home,” to take up a standing offer, to step into some comfortable role at Celtic Park and bide his time.

I’m not saying anyone wants him as manager. We are not quite that far down the rabbit hole, although there might be moments during the summer where the mass hysteria if we’re dragging things out makes even that sound like a good idea.

But to join the coaching staff, well that sounds sensible on the surface. It sounds like the club showing a bit of loyalty. It sounds like looking after one of our own.

Obviously, it’s also the worst thing he, and we, could do.

Years ago, Peter Lawwell told Brown he would have a place at Celtic whenever he wanted it.

That kind of offer is often dressed up as respect, but in truth it is something else. It is the soft landing. The easy road. The safety net that catches you before you’ve had to prove anything for yourself. It’s how we go into the present mess.

Brown was wise enough to turn it down then, and he would be even wiser to ignore it now. Because this is the path he’s chosen and it is the correct one for him. If he wants to be a top manager he has to stick with it. He has to take hard jobs and if necessary, climb the ladder only to fall off and start from the bottom again.

“Long is the way and hard, that out of hell leads up to light,” said John Milton in Paradise Lost.

He wasn’t writing about football, of course, but the truth is there just the same.

Management is exactly that journey. There are no shortcuts. There are no clean arcs from legend on the pitch to authority in the dugout. Every top manager earns it the hard way, through failure, through setbacks, through moments like this.

Sacking is not the end of the journey. It is another step on the road.

Look at Brendan Rodgers, who Brown has the utmost respect for. He did not arrive fully formed. His early career took him through Watford, Reading and Swansea before he reached Anfield and the level where clubs like Celtic came calling again.

There is a pattern there, and it is not glamorous.

You start small and you make mistakes. You learn what works and what doesn’t. It’s all about building something, you watch it fall apart, and you build again. Each step shapes you. Each failure sharpens you. By the time you reach the top, you are not the same person who started out.

That is what Brown is going through now.

Ayr United was not supposed to be the last stop on the journey. It was supposed to be the classroom. The place where he learned how to manage, how to organise, how to deal with players when things go wrong, how to carry the weight of expectation when results turn.

And they always do.

The important thing is what comes next. Not whether he takes a step back into comfort, but whether he takes another step forward into uncertainty. Everything we know about Scott Brown suggests he will. He has the stuff.

This is not someone who ever chose the easy option as a player. He built his career on confrontation, on resilience, on the willingness to walk into hostile environments and impose himself. That mentality does not disappear when you swap boots for a suit.

If anything, it becomes more important.

There will be another job. There will be another chance. And it might not be glamorous. It might not be stable. It might not even go well at first. That’s the point. That’s where the growth happens.

Because if Brown is serious about becoming a top manager, and there is no reason to doubt that he is, then he has to live that line from Milton. He has to take the long road. The hard road. The one that drags you through failure before it leads you anywhere near success.

Celtic will always be there for him. That door is not going anywhere. But he will walk through it when he merits it, and if his time ever comes, he will not do it as somebody’s number two.

He will keep his head up. He will remain confident in his own talents. And when the next offer comes his way to sit once again in the dugout, he will take it and that decision will be the making of him.

Not for this man the easy path or the soft seat; Scott Brown will forge his career in management the hard way.

He has never struck me as someone interested in being handed anything.

He will want to earn it, and that’s why he’s got a shot.

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