IF it’s good enough for Sir Alex Ferguson then it’s good enough for Gordon Strachan.
The revelation that Scott Brown had decided, after just two months and three games, to come out of international retirement and make himself available for selection by Scotland for the Russia 2018 qualifier against England, wasn’t universally well received.
Many former players, media pundits and supporters were of the opinion that, despite the scintillating form which the midfielder has been in for Celtic both domestically and in Europe this season, Brown shouldn’t be accepted back.
Strachan, who forged an unshakable bond with his erstwhile captain during his spells in charge of both Celtic and Scotland, unsurprisingly disagreed.
With both his own future as manager as well a place in the next World Cup finals at stake in the Group F match at Wembley a week tomorrow after the draw with Lithuania and defeat to Slovakia last month he has welcomed him into the fray with open arms.
The 59-year-old, though, sees no issues with Brown's U-turn and stressed the other players in the squad were as enthusiastic as he was about the prospect of the player returning.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion,” he said. “But I think there are a few players who have retired before and come back. I understood his decision at that time. I respected that. And I respect the decision he has made now.
“I think Paul Scholes had retired from Manchester United, but United and Sir Alex said: ‘Hey, get yourself back here, that would be handy’. Sometimes you think you have had enough and then you think that you do miss it. That can be the mindset of players.
"I've got to say I didn't see it being a problem with the other players, but I did check, and the reaction was so positive it wasn't true. If I thought there were any doubts about it, anything that would break the harmony in our squad, it wouldn't be allowed."
How long Brown, who has been a man reborn this season after enjoying the longest break from football in his professional career this summer, carries on playing for Scotland is unclear and will probably depend on the outcome of this game and what happens to the manager.
Strachan, though, believes the man he bought from Hibs for £4.4 million back in 2007 will be a huge asset to the national team in the crucial Group F game.
“He is in a far better place than he was,” he said. “That can happen to a player at 30. I was like that myself at Man United. At one point I was thinking that it was hard. Three years later football has become easy again.
“Between now and the game, we are going to enjoy the challenge and the excitement of it. What happens afterwards is that you get a debrief. Then you go: ‘Where do we go from here?’
"I think we’ll have a clearer picture after the game of where everybody wants to go after that. That’s what we will be looking at. There are no promises of this, that and everything.
"It might be the best way, because sometimes you make a decision and you have to go: ‘Oh, I might change my mind again’. We’ll have a look at if after that. But it’s good to have him back.
“He is doing this because, like the rest of us, he is desperate to make the supporters happy. Anybody who is involved in this wants Scotland to do well.”
Robert Snodgrass has been included in the 25-man squad despite limping off in the Barclays Premier League match against Stoke City last month and missing Hull City’s last two games.
Strachan, though, stressed that he would monitor how the attacking midfielder, who scored a hat-trick in the 5-1 win over Malta at the start of September, is feeling during training next week.
"I spoke to him last night and I told him not to push himself for us,” he said. "The fact is Hull is his club, so look after them first. It's encouraging that somebody has made himself available.”
Scotland will wear their controversial pink away strips at Wembley due to the white sleeves on their home shirts clashing with their opponents’ tops. Strachan admitted he would rather his team played in their traditional dark blue. But he doesn't feel it will have a bearing on the final outcome of the match.
"I've been beaten with the dark blue strip on against England,” he said. “It was explained to me this. I don't get it, but we will get on with it. I would like to see us wearing dark blue strips. But when you walk out on to the football pitch it doesn't matter really what you've got on. It's what's inside us that's going to make the big difference.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here