THE new league season, thankfully, is almost upon us. But until the sound of that first whistle, hostilities will be limited to posturing, bravado and speech play. It was a bit like that yesterday when the respective captains of the SPFL’s dozen Premiership clubs dropped in for a photo call at Hampden Park.
As the man who led his club to the title last term, who better to ask than Celtic skipper Scott Brown about who he considered would be the closest challengers to the reigning champions. His reply would have surprised some, been expected by others, but, either way, whetted the appetite further for the new term.
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For Brown believes Aberdeen, and not Rangers, will push Celtic for this season’s Ladbrokes Scottish Premier League.
While he did not completely dismiss the Ibrox club’s chances, the midfielder, maybe mischievously, also name-dropped Hearts as the other team he felt could stop the charge to six titles in a row.
When asked who would be the biggest threat to Celtic’s crown, Brown said: “I think Aberdeen after the last couple of seasons. They have been exciting to watch and have taken points off us at Celtic Park. We struggled up there so we’ll need to do a bit better.”
READ MORE: Scott Brown doesn't believe Rangers can challenge his Celtic team for the title
And when asked to comment on how Rangers will fare, he added: “We’ll see when it comes. That’s the fifth game of the season and we have a few before that.
“Aberdeen and Hearts have been great in the last few seasons and we expect more of the same from those two. It [the Rangers match] will be good. But we have lots of big games. That’s down the line.”
Brown was full of praise for new manager Brendan Rodgers and the style of football he is trying to ingrain into the Celtic players.
The two have forged a close bond and the team leader believes the supporters are in for a treat.
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“Training has been exceptional. He’s great to work under,” said Brown. “He had Swansea and Liverpool playing good football and we are trying to do that too. Everyone is enjoying it.”
This time last summer all the talk coming out of the club, mostly from Ronny Deila, was about winning a treble. You won’t hear that this time because winning the league again is by far the most important goal, not a clean sweep which is difficult in any era, plus the Champions League group stages which Celtic can take a giant leap towards by beating Astana on Wednesday night.
“We have started off well in the Champions League qualifiers and hopefully we can push on in the league,” said Brown. “The league is always the priority. It’s huge for us to get six-in-a-row. We fought hard last season and we deserved it. We could have nicked another goal over there and we are looking forward to Wednesday. These games will stand us in good stead for the league. We are eight or nine games deep already and hopefully that helps us.”
The next instalment on the European front for Celtic comes tomorrow night, with the second leg against Astana.
Home advantage, and, what may yet prove to be a crucial Leigh Griffiths away goal, will make Celtic favourites to progress through to the final qualifying round. However, they will have to overcome the lack of defensive cover to make that happen, particularly in the centre of their back line.
Mikael Lustig missed the weekend visit to Dublin, purely for precautionary reasons, while Toure, who is still working on his overall fitness since being released by Liverpool, may also be pressed in to service.
More pressing for Rodgers, will be the fitness of midfielder Nir Bitton, the Israeli still feeling the effects of his coming together with Turkish counterpart Arda Turan during the International Champions Cup tie against Barcelona.
The Celtic medical team will have the final call on Bitton’s swollen ankle.
However, the player’s agent yesterday issued a photograph on social media of the bruised joint, adding he hoped he would be fine for tomorrow.
More guesswork perhaps than a measured medical diagnosis. But one Rodgers and Celtic fans will be hoping is near to the mark.
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