Gordon Strachan shared what Scott Brown did in Scotland training proved why Celtic hero was a ‘great captain’

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They don’t make characters like Celtic hero Scott Brown anymore.

The never-shy midfielder enjoyed a trophy-winning career in Celtic colours, after starting his footballing journey at Hibernian and ending it with Aberdeen.

The 39-year-old, who is now manager of Scottish Championship side Ayr United, also represented Scotland on 55 occasions, donning the captain’s armband for his country and his club.

Whoever the opposition, when you faced Brown, you knew you were up against him because he always made himself known.

The ultimate wind-up merchant, Brown was brave on the ball, he never shied away from a tackle and led by example at all times.

That’s what made him a Celtic legend, but during his days with Scotland, and whilst being managed by the great, Gordon Strachan, he proved exactly why he was such a great leader.

READ MORE: How Scott Brown is just like Brendan Rodgers as Celtic player explains how he has prepared for Ayr Utd loan

Gordon Strachan explained why Celtic hero was a ‘great captain’

Great leaders don’t need no explanation and they will just lead from the front, as Brown did exactly that when representing Scotland.

Strachan was the manager, and he had made him skipper, with the national side preparing for some important matches, including against England.

But the squad were on different levels, in terms of fitness, so it meant that some had harder training regimes than others.

Knowing this, Brown took it upon himself to, rather than rest because he didn’t need to up his fitness, to train with those with the toughest training regimes and, not so long after, everyone else followed suit.

Strachan, speaking to Football’s Greatest, explained that proved the ‘power’ of the man with the armband and how it also showed why Brown was a ‘great’ captain.

“I made Scott (Brown) the captain at Scotland,” said Strachan. “You know how players could mould the squad. Drive a squad.

“We were about to play England. Some of the Championship players, who were brought into the squad, hadn’t played for maybe four weeks. Premiership in Scotland probably three weeks. Somebody else two weeks. And Scott Brown had played in a cup final the previous week with the Celtic players and I don’t know who they were playing. Probably Rangers.

“So, we had to work out the fitness of the players. How do we work out the fitness of the players, because all the different levels here? We agreed with the fitness coaches that the guys who hadn’t played in four weeks had to work more and do more.

“So, the first training session, this is probably eight days after, maybe less than that, Celtic had played in a cup final and the Celtic players had played a lot of games.

“So, there was going to be a group that were going to do running and a certain amount. Another group was going to do another certain amount, so we had this programme planned. Then Scott Brown saw a certain group running – Brown said, ‘what are you doing?’. I said, ‘I am doing this. You have done it before at Celtic, it’s hard running. You have a day off’. ‘No, I am the captain’.

“So, he goes across, as he is walking across, Snodgrass, who maybe a couple of weeks, ‘what’s he doing?’. I said ‘he is joining in. I don’t know why he has got to join in, but he is joining in. Right, I am joining in’. Christophe Berra comes across, ‘what’s he doing?’. Right, he joins in, so he has to do the full session.

“By the time we are about to start, the whole squad, ‘we have to do the full session’. They decided, if they are doing it, then we are doing it. That’s the power of a great captain. That’s the power of a great man. He’s not the most talented footballer, but he is a great man, captain and drive, who got better and better as he got older.”

Brown’s record at Celtic

Brown set some seriously high standards at Celtic, including winning the Treble-Treble under Rodgers when he dismantled everyone before him in his first spell.

That allowed Brown, who moved to Celtic in 2007, to rack up the trophies and end his career with 23 winners medals, in total.

Callum McGregor is now leading Celtic and doing a tremendous job of it.

It’s a credit to the 31-year-old because he had some pretty big shoes to fill and he has taken it all in his stride, with another Treble on for McGregor this season.