Whenever Celtic fans now think of Scott Brown they instantly think of him as the captain and leader of the club during a successful reign but that wasn’t always the case.
After arriving at the club under the watch of Gordon Strachan in the summer of 2007 for a fee of £4.4 million, he had a difficult start to life in Glasgow due to issues both on and off the park.
When Tony Mowbray arrived two seasons later, it didn’t appear as though the former Hoops defender really fancied Brown as he has revealed that he was instructed to find a new club.
At that time, the then 24-year-old Brown had been out injured and didn’t return to the side until early February on a dismal night at Rugby Park. Much to his amazement before coming on the park, he was handed the captain’s armband by Mowbray before heading on for the last quarter of an hour.
The decision would ultimately change the course of history as it would pave the way for a premiership in which the former Scotland international would become the club’s second most successful captain having won 21 honours during his 14 years at Celtic.
It’s a privilege he will never forget and reflected on what it means to be given the armband.
“I understand new managers come in and want to bring in their own players. But I was there to prove a point,” said Brown speaking to the [Daily Record].
“Just because the manager said to me, ‘Yeah, you can leave’ that was me. I was like, ‘Yeah sure I can! I’ll make sure I’m still here. I’ll be playing, mate. Week in week out!’
“Then, at the end of the window, somehow I ended up becoming captain. I don’t know how that worked! But it happened.
“Incredible moments like that change you. I maybe wasn’t playing my best and Peter Grant (Mowbray’s assistant) said he’d drive me anywhere! But that’s one thing I’ll never regret, that’s for sure.
“I stayed, I fought for my place and I showed everybody I deserved to be in the starting XI. I don’t remember Tony dropping me that much after that!
“I came back from injury, I came on, got the captaincy and played at left back! Maybe he didn’t fancy me as a centre midfielder! He maybe wanted to bring his own people in or thought he could get better at Celtic which is fine. It never really bothered me.
“A lot of managers came in and probably didn’t fancy me at the time. But I stayed there a lot longer than most managers did. And I stayed because of my willingness to work hard, to improve and to learn the way they wanted me to play.I would do whatever I could do just to make the team better.
“I think he probably offered it to 10 other people. I was probably the only one who said ‘aye’ at the time!
“But I’ll always be fully appreciative to Tony for giving me that armband, whether he wanted to give me it or not. It gave me the opportunity to maybe grow up a little bit, to become more of a man.
Action Images / Jason Cairnduff
“To become a proper leader on the park and in the dressing room as well. Because everyone knew what I was – I was full of energy, a bit wild in the dressing room and enjoyed some good banter.
“But as soon as I stepped over that white line I was 100 per cent serious. I wanted to win. I couldn’t accept getting beat and I’m similar now as a manager.
“It shows you there are always going to be little speed bumps, no matter what. Nobody’s career is going to be all plain sailing. Everyone thought Messi was always going to stay at Barcelona but somehow he ends up leaving the club.
“These things happen – you can’t write everything in the stars and you can’t always think you’ll be the first choice on the team sheet. Whether I was or I wasn’t, I had to work to earn my place. I made sure I did that every day. I never really gave another manager the chance to drop me.”
