KRIS COMMONS has gone on a massive tirade over the club not securing Scott Brown’s future months ago.
During the rant published by SunSport, the former Celtic star claims:
The Celtic captain turned down an offer to treble his wages by leaving Celtic in the past.
Brown has been training the youth players for quite some time.
The club were embarrassing at dealing with Craig Gordon last summer and they could do the same with Brown.
Celtic are at a major crossroads, however, if you watched the Mowbray era unfold, you would know too many changes with very little continuity breeds failure. There has to be a measured approach to things and while his best days might be behind him, Broony offers so much in the dressing room and for short bursts on the field.
Here’s Kris Commons full rant:
“They would be crazy to let a man of Brown’s experience and stature just walk out the door.
“The club are facing a rebuild of epic proportions.
“Planning should already be well under way. The longer they leave it and the longer they drag their heels, the greater the risk of starting next season behind the eight-ball.
“In effect, the club is set to undergo open-heart surgery. Brown is the perfect man to help provide an element of stability and continuity. He can help the transition.
“In terms of Celtic’s greatest-ever captains, Brown is second on the list. Only Billy McNeill stands above him. That’s how important he has been.
“He will turn 36 in June, so he’s obviously not going to play every week. He will know that he will have to take a slight wage cut if he signs a new deal at Parkhead.
“But his experience will be invaluable. The club should be making it a matter of urgency to get him signed up for next season.
“In fact, this should actually have been sorted months ago. A club legend like Brown shouldn’t be left in limbo like this, with just a couple of months left on his contract.
“Brendan Rodgers always used to speak about a five-year plan for players. That applies even more to senior figures like Brown.
“If Celtic had their affairs in order, Brown’s future would already be mapped out. But, in keeping with everything else at Celtic over the past 12 months, they are just making it up as they go along.
“Look at what happened with Craig Gordon last summer. They let him walk out the door on a free and have never replaced him. He’d still be Celtic’s No 1 right now if they had kept him.
“He’s head and shoulders above any of the keepers currently at Parkhead. The way he was treated by the club last summer was embarrassing, given the service he had given over the years and the trophies he had won.
“Brown was coaching the youth teams when I was at Celtic and he is obviously keen to pursue a career in coaching once he retires.
“He’s the perfect role model for young kids. He sets standards and he demands the very best from everyone around him.
“You can never have too many people like that in the dressing room and around the club in general. He’s a true leader of men.
“If Aberdeen do make him a concrete offer, it might be tempting in the sense that he would be likely to play more for them than he would for Celtic.
That would be a tough decision for him to make. But Celtic shouldn’t even allow it to get to that stage. Brown has a key role to play in how the club rebuilds itself. He has been a loyal servant to the club over the years.
“He had an offer from Newcastle United a few years ago which could have seen him treble his wages. He had the chance to move to Australia in 2019. He was offered eye-watering sums of money and the chance to start a new life Down Under.
“But he turned them all down.
“He’s a Celtic man through and through. The club need to wake up and give themselves a shake. If they allow Brown to walk out the door in the summer, it would be a huge mistake.”
It’s something which is splitting fans down the middle. Some fans think there’s no room for sentiment while others believe Broony is the man to bring any old guard and new bhoys together.
Craig Gordon’s situation last summer did drag on and ultimately the club made the wrong call in hindsight. Although it did pay off in the quadruple treble cup final where the Hearts stopper couldn’t keep his former team out in a nervy penalty shoot out.
