Scott Brown once named Celtic hero who would ‘hurt’ players in training, tried to change his position

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Scott Brown was a no-nonsense midfielder during his time at Celtic.

Everyone remembers the moment Brown was wiped out against Aberdeen with two aggressive tackles, including a red card challenge from, Sam Cosgrove.

But rather than roll on the floor like your modern-day player, in typical fashion, he stood up, with a smile on his face and flexed his muscles.

That was Brown in a nutshell and it’s what made him so popular with the Celtic supporters.

But could there have been a midfielder who was perhaps as aggressive or as nasty as the man himself?

Well, Brown named Celtic hero Victor Wanyama in his all-time XI and he shared an interesting insight into what he was like behind the scenes.

• READ MORE: Victor Wanyama on playing with Celtic’s ‘world class’ players and Champions League dream

Scott Brown on Victor Wanyama ‘hurting’ players in Celtic training

Celtic could do with a Wanyama-type figure in the middle of the park right now to help out captain, Callum McGregor.

But when the now-33-year-old first arrived in Glasgow in 2011, he joined from the Belgian side, Beerschot, and went on to win three trophies with the club.

Brown explained how Wanyama’s running style was purposely altered for him to, not just ‘hurt’ opponents out on the pitch, but in training as well, as he told the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast in 2023.

“I think the two midfielders kind of pick themselves, Victor Wanyama,” said Brown about his all-time XI. “I played with him. He was an animal, to be perfectly honest.

“He was strong. He was great on the ball. He hurt everybody around him. Whether it was the players that he played with in training. He had these elbows that were sharp and strong. He ran that way (elbows pointing out) instead of the normal way, just to try and hurt people.

“Technically, he was very good at what he did. He would hold on to the ball. He wanted to drive forward. But he could also sit and break play up as well.

“It was a great find from Lenny as well. How he brought him in because, when he first came in, we thought he was a centre-half. But then, we realised that he wasn’t very, very quickly, because he wanted to go forward and he wanted to drive with the ball.

“What made it worse, he was coming for my position, so I was trying to get Lenny to play him as a centre-back. He was a great lad. He went on to Spurs as well. At the time at Celtic, he was really, really good.”

Where is Wanyama now?

Wanyama’s success in Celtic colours landed him a gig in the Premier League and he joined the then-ever-improving, Southampton.

After a few seasons at St Mary’s, Mauricio Pochettino then signed him up for Tottenham and he would help the London side to the 2019 Champions League final.

But, unfortunately, injuries got the better of him and his body could no longer cope with the intense nature of England’s top-flight.

That’s why, at 28, he moved to the MLS and joined CF Montreal, where he has now made over 100 appearances and is still playing for them in 2025.