The intensely tribal nature of Scotland’s football scene means neutral analysis of Scott Brown is about as forthcoming as peace marches before an Old Firm fixture. The combination of Celtic captain and a confrontational playing style that is viewed as being favourably looked upon by referees means Brown is adored by one club’s supporters whereas rivals view the midfielder as an individual they love to hate. This is not a novel concept, as Barry Ferguson, Graeme Souness and Neil Lennon will confirm.
On Friday Brown is expected to step back into the Scotland team after a brief absence that only intensified debate around him. In August Brown announced his retirement from the international scene while citing concerns over fitness. “I simply felt that I could not keep up both commitments [for club and country] without either my performances or recovery time suffering,” he said. Fair enough, nodded the Tartan Army.
Brown missed the unappealing matches against Malta, Lithuania and Slovakia before suddenly declaring his availability for the meeting with England at Wembley. Gordon Strachan, who was gushing towards the 31‑year‑old three months ago, again offered lavish praise.
In touching the realms of the ludicrous, Strachan suggested friendships with people such as Brown matter more to him than medals. The sentiment of Scotland’s manager contrasted markedly with that offered in public with regards to Alan Hutton’s Scotland retirement.
“Scott is in a better place now than when he left,” Strachan said last week. “The game is now not so hard for him. It is never easy but it is now not so hard. Any injury doubts have been dispelled, as have any self-doubts that came from that. He is in a different place to where he was when he retired.”
It is worth reflecting on the timeframe here: from August to November. During that period, Brown has excelled against meagre opposition in Scotland’s top flight and formed part of a superb Celtic performance against Manchester City. If the soundings of Brendan Rodgers within a dressing room are even half representative of public comments, Celtic’s manager has probably convinced Brown he is close to being one of the world’s great midfield players.
Brown also, however, laboured badly as Borussia Mönchengladbach swatted aside the Scottish champions in Glasgow.
Earlier, in September last year in the key match of Scotland’s failed Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Brown was abject when captain of the defeated team in Georgia.
Brown’s situation partly illustrates precisely where Scotland are. The glaring shortage of personnel available to Strachan means the manager will feel obligated to select a player who remains so prominent. Still, Brown is not a tartan-clad version of Diego Maradona; he is not a player to whom Scotland should be eternally grateful for service on account of international exploits past.
The subliminal messages from both sides are poor. For all Strachan and Brown clearly have a close relationship, this contrasts markedly with Scottish players who privately bemoan the manager’s lack of communication when they are not selected for teams or squads. Those hoping to make inroads into international football have been forced backwards in the queue by a player who apparently wants to pick and choose when to represent his country. Brown has not even been willing to commit to any matches beyond Wembley, in itself highly discouraging.
“I’ll know in my head how I feel,” said Brown. “I’ll know personally after the game. There’s not another Scotland game until March and that lets me figure out a lot about myself and how my body is going to take the battering with the no rest. I don’t know how many games it’s going to be for, whether it’s just this one-off game or we’ll just take it from there but I’m coming back for this game and we’ll see how my legs are and see how everything is.”
Brown’s motivation for reappearing, according to the man himself, seems to relate entirely to an obligation towards Strachan rather than wanting to kickstart a revival after a poor Scotland run. “The stuff that Gordon has done for me over the last 10 years of my career from when he first signed me and brought me to Celtic, turned me into the player I am now,” Brown said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I admire him as a manager and he has led me a lot on the field as well as off it. He’s a mate.”
The notion of this playing out tremendously well, with Brown being influential in a famous Scotland win at Wembley, is a serious long shot. Otherwise, it is hard for player and manager to win. The negatives are abundantly clear: Brown being the focus of heavy attention before potentially walking from the international scene for a second time. If Scotland lose, Strachan will almost certainly leave the building first. When all pieced together, this is the latest unsatisfactory chapter of a stuttering campaign.
