Scott Brown confirmed he has hung up his playing boots for good – and revealed he hopes to copy Ange Postecoglou ’s Celtic masterplan if he takes his first steps into management this summer.
Nine-in-a-row captain Brown spoke exclusively to Record Sport as his old club prepares to crown Aussie gaffer Postecoglou’s first season in Scotland with the top-flight title.
A win against Hearts this weekend will clinch the crown which Brown lost last season before bowing out after 10 years wearing the armband to start out on his coaching pathway at Aberdeen.
Record Sport revealed in March the 36-year-old planned to retire as a player when he ripped up his contract at Pittodrie .
And for the first time Brown has now spoken of the agonising decision to bring the curtain down on a glittering career.
He’s now hoping to land his first job in the dugout this summer having already been linked with jobs at St Mirren and Raith Rovers and in an exclusive interview Brown says he plans to emulate the high intensity transformation Postecoglou has overseen at Parkhead since taking over from Neil Lennon.
He said: “It’s been a very difficult decision to call time on my playing career but I’ll be 37 next month and I feel the time is right for me to announce that I’m retiring in order to focus fully on becoming
a manager.
“It’s the end of one chapter but the start of a new one and I’m excited about what the future might hold.
“Obviously I will cherish some amazing moments from my time and none better than winning so many trophies during my years at Celtic. So I’m delighted that the club is now about to celebrate winning the title back.
“I know how it feels to lift that trophy and how much hard work is required to win it.
“So I have to take my hat off to Ange Postecoglou for the job he has done in such a short space of time.
“I hope the manager and the players savour every moment.
“It was always an honour for me going out there as captain, knowing the lads were listening to you in that huddle, with 50,000 fans behind us wanting us to do our best.
“Yes my last season didn’t go that well but that’s football. You’d take nine out of 10 titles all day long!
“So I’ll just have to take that one on the chin.
“But you learn lessons from the tough times too and I think everyone at the club took those lessons on board.
“They’ve responded by really kicking on this season and it’s been fantastic just to watch the way they’ve gone about it.
“The inverted full-backs, the high press, the energy levels – that’s the way I will want my teams to play the game when I’m a manager somewhere down the line.”
But Brown admits he did fear the worst for the incoming Celtic boss in the first few turbulent weeks of Postecoglou’s tenure.
He said: “I’ll be honest, when I saw them at the start of the season I was a little bit worried.
“But after the first three or four weeks you could see what he was trying to put in place. He brought in some new faces and added real pace and energy into the team – and that’s what Celtic is all about.
“It’s all about playing good, attractive football at high intensity and that’s what Ange has delivered.
“Yes, a lot of people were on his back early doors but he had to build a brand new team pretty much from scratch from what we had last season.
“So he’s done a great job, getting the lads to buy into his philosophy and focus on how he wants them to play. It’s been brilliant to see.”
