Gary Caldwell joked that the Highbury Stadium technical areas might need subtitles and policing this afternoon as he prepares to lock horns with former Celtic team mate Scott Brown.
The Exeter City boss will go head-to-head with his Fleetwood Town counterpart for the first time as managers in the League One crunch. But friendships will be put aside for 90 minutes as the duo looks to win the battle for three crucial points. Caldwell - whose second and last title with the Hoops in 2007-08 was the first of Brown’s 10 - reckons his younger colleague has made a fantastic start to life in the dug out fuelled by 14-years of handling the demands to win every time he stepped on the park with Celtic.
The duo were also team mates for Hibs and Scotland during long and distinguished careers north of the border. And as he prepares to head to the Lancashire coast, Caldwell said: “Scott is someone I had great success with at Celtic, I played with him when he was a young player at Hibs and obviously the national team as well.
“He was a fantastic player and is a good person. He knows how to win football matches and when you are at Celtic for as long as he was, then you are under no illusions how to win football matches and what it takes to be successful because second at that club is not good enough.
“He can live with that pressure and I am sure that he has found management different and a challenge. It’s been his first year, but he has done a fantastic job.
“Like I said, knowing the person and the player, then at the very least we will be in for a very competitive game. The technical area might need some subtitles and policing at some points! But apart from that, it should be okay.
“He was a great team-mate. He was a nightmare to play against because he was so competitive and in your face, but when he was on your team, he was a fantastic team-mate to have because of his winning mentality and his attitude. He gave everything to his career as a player and I am sure he will as a manager.”
Fleetwood currently sit 13th as they look to draw level on points with 11th placed Exeter this afternoon and Brown added: “It’ll be fine coming up against Gary as we’ve got great respect for each other.
"I know him well, so I know he’ll have his team working hard as they’ll be organised.”
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