Brendan Rodgers reveals Jonny Hayes was worried about joining Celtic because of Scott Brown

By John McGinley

March 10, 2022

Brendan Rodgers has shared that sometimes Scott Brown’s reputation preceded him when it came to new signings joining Celtic during his reign as manager.

Within the Celtic community, Brown is regarded as a born winner – someone who would put everything on the line to deliver success for the Bhoys.

Outside of the club though you’ll soon find plenty of people don’t like him. He’s had his fair share of run-ins with opponents over the years. You can’t deny he loves a wind-up.

When Rodgers signed Hayes in 2017, he even had to reassure the winger that things between him and Brown would be fine and not the source of any aggro.

Speaking to The Daily Record, the Leicester City boss said: “He’s serious about his work. You can only achieve what he has if you’re a top professional with a top mentality. But, off the pitch? What a man!

“He’s just a great guy who knows when to have fun and enjoy himself but also how to look after people. As a person he’s an amazing guy, very kind and very humble. He put on a different character when he was out on the pitch. He seemed to thrive on being everyone’s pantomime villain. His on field persona is nothing like his real life personality.

“I remember signing Jonny Hayes and I could sense that Jonny was a wee bit tentative about coming into the squad because he’d had a couple of run-ins with him on the field.

“I actually had to say to Jonny, ‘Listen, he’s one of the best guys you’ll meet in your life! Don’t worry about it’. In no time they were good pals and I think they’re still very close now. Jonny probably wouldn’t have thought that possible.”

Hayes and Brown are indeed good friends now, often seen joking together on the Celtic training pitch. They have since worked closely together again at Aberdeen.

Although a combative character on the pitch, he’s never come across like that off of it. In fact, when at Celtic he always came across as the biggest joker in the dressing room, often pulling pranks or getting up to hijinks in front of the Celtic TV cameras.

Having that personality back at the club would be a great thing, even if we’ve said goodbye to his on the pitch shenanigans.

In other news, Joe Hart’s perfect response to media’s Celtic treble questions.