Brendan Rodgers has gently warned his captain, Scott Brown, that the rigours of playing for both Celtic and Scotland could have an adverse impact on his performances for the reigning Scottish champions.
Brown, who is set to make his 400th appearance for Celtic against St Johnstone tomorrow night, has recently stated that the club versus country dilemma was one of the “toughest decisions” of his career.
The 31-year-old, who has earned 51 caps for Scotland, initially retired from the international scene last year but came back for the 3-0 defeat to old foes England in the World Cup qualifier at Wembley in November.
Brown has yet to decide whether or not to continue to represent his country, with qualifiers coming up against Slovenia in March and England again in June.
Read more: Scott Sinclair: My Celtic team mate and darts buddy Kieran Tierney can go right to the double top
Rodgers, the Celtic manager, knows how difficult a decision it will be for Brown having experienced a similar emotional conflict as manager of Liverpool when Steven Gerrard eventually stepped back from the England frontline in 2014.
Rodgers said: “We’ve talked. I think he’s pretty clear on where I see him at, and I’ve had experiences of these types of situations. I remember with Steven at the time as well. It has to be right for him. So Scott knows where he needs to be in order to play the game at the level he wants to be at.
"He’s in a different stage of his life now. He knows that. Of course, I can give him my aspect on it and my feelings on it. He will speak to Gordon [Strachan] I’m sure. He only wants what’s best for Scotland but he also has to have a look out for himself. He’s at that stage now where he has to look after himself. I’m sure he’ll make the decision in time. I think he’s clear in his own mind how he sees it evolving but my worry is for Celtic and I want to make sure he’s the best he can possibly be for Celtic.”
The primary concern for Brown, and Rodgers, is the date of the return fixture with England at Hampden. It is pencilled in for June 10, just a week or so before Celtic return for pre-season training ahead of likely Champions League qualifiers that same month. Should the Parkhead side reach the Scottish Cup final too, there would little opportunity for Brown and other Celtic players involved in the international set-up to re-charge the batteries before another assault on a series of fronts.
Read more: Scott Sinclair: My Celtic team mate and darts buddy Kieran Tierney can go right to the double top
Rodgers conceded that the timing of the England encounter was not ideal. "For players it’s not great," said Rodgers, who has ensured his players have made the most of the winter break afforded to them recently.
"It's not a good date at all. I remember being down in England and going on holiday and seeing that the Scottish teams were already back. It was incredible because you just felt like you were winding down and getting into your rest.
"In Scotland now it’s not the old school way of finishing the season and having no qualifiers so you have five or six weeks off. In Scottish football now, if you are playing cup finals at the end of May and then internationals you might only have that short period of time off. The challenges up here are to get your team prepared with the minimum rest."
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel