Scott Brown

For the position he plays and with the years of experience he has that shouldn't be a problem. For every yard a top senior pro like Brown loses in pace they make up for in their reading of the game. So he may have lost some pace, but he still has the stamina and the graft. I think sometimes he needs more of a hand. He's often left alone to do the defensive duties and tough tackling for the whole midfield. McGregor has been ragdolled a few times recently when backtracking. We need a Wanyama type alongside him for games when we are under the cosh (in Europe) or getting bullied (i.e huns last season).

 

That is the natural regression when u get older. For some reason in football they say 29 yrs old is when u start losing that sharpness. There could be truth in it. Brown is over 34 now which is very old for football. In his position in central midfield u need to have the legs to run around. Something Lennon needs to look at. Against the better teams he will be found out

 

I disagree that pace is his issue

 

Hes fine, people get it in there heads hes done every season. Always take him a bit to get going. He'll show everyone next week as he strolls around bossing the place as usual.


(Still * off at his handball though)

 

He's 34. Eventually it will catch up on him, especially with the amount of games he's played in the past few seasons.

Missing out on McGinn looks more and more like a massive loss.

 

Nah he is fine. After our European games this year everyone will see.

 

I think Brown is still a fine player, but using him over and over won't do him or the team any good.

I think we've been quite open in midfield so far this season. It's not that Brown has lost a yard of pace, but the midfieldes seem to be having to run a wee bit further to close the opponents down and they've been getting there just as someone is popping a pass off. It was particularly evident against Cluj and it hasn't only been Brown.

He'll still be very useful in bigger games, but only if we get bodies around him and stay quite compact.

 

The fact Sutton of all people is starting to speak about it tells you how noticeable it is.

 

What way can he adapt though? He just seems to be constantly making daft mistakes and is completely off the boil.

 

The older you get the more time it takes to recover, so he should not be playing 2 games a week at this stage of his career. He did ok in the AIK game after being rested the weekend before, and that's what we should be looking at for him: either play him in the league or in europa, not both.

The problem with that is it disrupts the rest of the midfield structure if he is constantly in and out, so you have the dilemma of either overplay him and have him sub par in both games, or leave him out and be constantly rejigging your midfield as there isn't a straight replacement. Personally I'd risk the latter and have McGregor holding with Christie and Ntcham ahead when Brown is being rested in the league.

 

It might be a good start to have more rest between games & just sitting in more rather than trying to dictate the play.
One of the main things is though, someone needs to step up & take on the mantle, which would allow him to be rested more with no discernible loss to the team in the long term.
I assumed it was gonna be KT, but it isn’t so there is a huge opportunity for one of our players to take on the challenge.

 

Here’s a thought, why not spend big money for a ready made replacement & phase the changeover through the next 18 months.
A player that would be the beating heart of the team, as he is.
The big money spent on Scott has been repaid tenfold, do it again

 

He's now given away two ridiculous penalties this month.

Look, I love Scott Brown as much as anyone and it's not as if he is sticking out like a sore thumb. He's still decent but in my opinion it's mental to be leaving Ntcham or Rogic (when he's back fully fit) on the bench when McGregor can easily slip into that deep role.

Brown used to break up the play brilliantly but he's lost a bit of what he used to have. The man is 34 years old. Why is it so impossible to drop him?

 

Do you think a big money ready made replacement would come to play second fiddle for a season or so, playing around half a season worth of games?

 

Still can’t believe the board were such * re the whole McGinn affair.

 

Not signing McGinn for less than 4 million will go down as one of the worse decisions by the club in a long time. A tremendous player missed.

 

There’s a lot more to replacing Scott Brown than the 90 mins you see him on the park.
& yes I can see it.

I honestly thought they were hoping eboue or Ntcham might have been a cheaper replacement.

One thing I will say, Christie’s drive, enthusiasm, work rate, skill & passion for the club might mean we’re further down the road of a replacement than I would have thought possible when he came back from his loans.

 

We could have had a ready made replacement in McGinn, and the position sorted for best part of a decade.

Will haunt this club for a long time, make no mistake