Former referee Bobby Madden has certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons with his appearance on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast. Madden was asked about a number of controversial issues during his time of being a referee in the SPFL.
When he was asked if there were any particular players during his time as a match official who were particularly abusive Madden nailed a long-standing perception from our rivals that Scott Brown was one of the main offenders for abusing referees.
Madden said, [Scottish Football Podcast], “Some can give you a lot of stick and can be quite abusive and certain individuals are not like that.
“The name right away most folk would say is Scott Brown. But Scott Brown never engaged referees.
“Ever. He was so focused on doing his job. He was more interested in trying to be in the head of the opponent than dealing with the referees.
“There was very little communication there. The perception was that there was a constant pressure being applied, but it was never really the case.”
And see to be honest, I can never recall a time when Brown was ever like that during his time at Celtic. All I remember is Broony in the heads of our opponents just as Madden described.
Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and El Hadji Diouf are the three names that instantly come to mind but I am absolutely certain there were more away form the eye of the camera. And who can forget that legendary moment at Pittodrie where we all witnessed the Scott Brown ‘shuffle’?
As Celtic captain, Scott Brown represented this club to the highest standards on and off the pitch. Even to this day his professionalism is being praised to the hilt.
Maddens comments may come as a surprise to some, but not the Celtic fans.
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