Scott Brown

I've heard all that stuff for years Paul. Take him out the team and we wouldn't even dominate the match! That's how it works against decent opposition. Assuming McGregor can after Khazahkstan last year is niave and we know Ntcham can't either. Unless you know Soro is the answer, Brown is our best option.

Having said that, Bitton and Ajer I'd be happy to get some more experience in that role!

Defo not McGregor, Ntcham though. Horrific pairing. Teams would walk through that.

 

think his legs are gone and should be phased out and used sparingly/rested on a lot of games

Would hate if him playing every match stops the 10 taking a shine off his time here

 

Again Minty, I watched the match with my son tonight. We were watching McGregor in particular. He was way off the pace. Looked like his mind wasn't on it. It's easy to blame a 34/35 year old or whatever but if you were to watch the re-run you'd see.

Christie was missing from the number 10. He's a great asset there. Miss the Rogic option as well. Ntcham is an 8.

 

That post I respect! It's your point of view, no Name-calling nor nothing!

Yes, we're gonna miss him BUT we didn't sing a Wanyama to replace him. We need to!

 

The problem i think with Brown is that Lenny seems he has to play him in every game (as some others) when he can play a bit part in a majority of games this season and do well.

Hes getting on and legs will need a rest but Lenny plays him every game,he needs to be benched and used as player that might come on to settle things down after we scored a few....there is no shame in that and many players do this as they get on. You cant blame Broony for getting picked and having bad games,that falls on Lenny.

I want him to be the first to lift that trophy above his head in 9 months time,he deserves it,this guy is a legend,but he simply has to be used sparingly now and bring in the next Broony.

 

I’ve watched a replay of the game already. McGregor wasn’t off the pace. He had a good game. The 35 year old who lost possession and clattered into the opposition’s legs was off the pace.

Agree that Christie out of position didn’t help.

 

He needs taken out the team, simple as. He’s not the only issue with the team but he certainly isn’t helping. Drop McGregor into the holding role or give Soro a chance.

 

He laughed at a Dundee United player when we scored but.

 

There’s no question about it, he’s very far off the pace. It’s actually a bit embarrassing sometimes now when he takes a bad touch and can’t get to it, or goes to shut a player down and they stroll past him.

Sometimes he still gets to it, particularly when the balls in the air, but when he misses he misses big.

I would be dropping him to the bench, Christie, McGregor in midfield. We’ve seen them play well together before.

 

Needs rested at times and that gives other players a chance as well.

 

If he plays against motherwell then lenny learned * all last night.

 

The thing is you can tell they know..

Anyone can see it and we've subbed him off twice already this season which is very telling..

They're just scared to make the big decision or don't trust anyone to come in to his position, which is on them again..

 

Tbf he’s been written off for at least 5 years but he was never a top European midfielder. Good young attacking player who sacrificed goals and assists for team discipline, deserves praise for that, but he’s never been a good enough passer for the CL which you need if you’re to be a holding CM.

I basically think we’ve squandered his best attributes. Passion and drive need to be seen in the final third, instead we’ve had him barking orders and ‘commanding’ from the centre circle since about 2010. He’s made the team tick often but to build your whole team and style around a slow, sideways passer is stupid when Celtic always surround him with nippy players.

Brown should’ve either been left to his natural devices - driving and charging about - with a bit of freedom, or made the holding DM of a slow midfield which never wanted to concede. For a decade we’ve shoehorned a defensive player into an all-out attacking team. No wonder it goes wrong in Europe when playing actual professionals.

For me his best period was alongside Ledley and Kayal - no surprise as players with better passing but sharing positional discipline.

Brown will almost certainly lift the ten as captain, but I think he’ll have regrets over how he’s been used in the team.

 

Weird thing to say when he's been in the top 5 passers for accuracy in the CL, in recent season where we've qualified.

Also, he was still driving the team forward when Deila was manager, so your comment about 'since 2010' isn't accurate.

Further to that, we're not an all out attacking team and even attacking teams need defensively minded players. Bizarre.

I doubt he'll have any regrets about how he was played for us.

 

Without getting embroiled in a stats battle, he’s clearly not a top passer of the ball. 5 yard balls sideways should always have 100% accuracy. I’ve seen him, on numerous occasions, pass straight out of play before.

By driving force I assumed it was obvious I meant actually driving forward with the ball. Brown has been our primary holding player since halfway thru Lennon’s first spell, circa 2010. My comment is completely accurate as I went to most games in that period.

Celtic not an all out attacking team? What do you watch? Course I mean domestically not v Barca. Bizarre any Celtic fan would not refer to us as attacking tbh. We utterly dominate 99% of 99% of matches we play and frequently defend on our halfway line. Infact basically the only goals we concede come from being robbed in possession high up.
Attacking teams need defensive minded players - my point being Brown wasn’t - we converted him into such when all his natural attributes are screaming the opposite.

 

That's not the only type of pass he's done for us in the CL. I've seen most players that play for us pass the ball out of play on a few occasions.

That's exactly what I meant, driving forward with the ball. It's fresh in my memory because I recently watched the 2011/12 season review and so much of our attacking play goes through Broony. Your comment about 2010 is objectively not accurate.

No.

Celtic.

I didn't say we weren't attacking, but we're not an 'all out attack' team. For several seasons we've been as much about ball retention as we have been about attacking. Broony's transition to being more defensive was pretty natural, imo. We had other, younger players with more flair that were better suited to an attacking role by the time he was 29/30 (Deila's era). He played through injury in the second season of that and when Rodgers came in, Rodgers made suggestions about how he could adapt to prolong his career.

 

A little bench time will allow him to come back stronger.
We need a Broony in the squad to remind a lot of the foreign players what it means to be Celtic .