CELTIC boss Brendan Rodgers and chief executive Peter Lawwell have given their joint blessing to Scott Brown’s proposed return to the Scotland squad.
The 31-year-old Hoops skipper has performed a u-turn after announcing his international retirement in the summer.
Now, however. Brown is poised to be named in Gordon Strachan’s squad for the crucial World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley on Friday, November 11.
The former Parkhead boss is believed to have spoken to to Rodgers and Lawwell about the situation and has been given the green light for their club captain to return for his country after their back-to-back dismal displays against Lithuania – a 1-1 draw at Hampden – and the 3-0 hammering in Slovakia.
Strachan’s international assistant Mark McGhee has welcomed the news as he rates Brown as Scotland’s best player.
The Motherwell boss said: “The decision to have him back is a no-brainer. There are no negatives to it. I think Brendan Rodgers’ arrival at Parkhead was a significant factor in his original decision, Broony seeing it and thinking: ‘This could be really exciting at Celtic and I want to be part of that’.
“Now, though, what I think he has realised is: ‘I can do this – I can be part of something exciting at Celtic Park and also do Scotland’.
“If that’s the case then I welcome him back with open arms. He’s the best player in Scotland – or, at least, the best Scottish player.”
Meanwhile anyone unfortunate enough to have tuned into Clyde’s Superscoreboard last night would have heard the Comedy Club Sevco Rangers cheerleader Derek Johnstone rage at Brown’s decision.
He effectively accused the Celtic captain of betraying his country by failing to make himself available for the recent World Cup matches against Lithuania and Slovakia.
When it was pointed out to him that only a few weeks earlier he was calling for Kenny Miller to be considered for the match at Wembley, despite the former Celtic striker previously announcing his own international retirement, Johnstone remained illogically resolute and sounded like the cheerleader Chris Sutton outed.
Even Hugh Keevins reckoned he was trying to turn this into a Celtic (Comedy Club Sevco) Rangers issue.
Pathetic really. Wonder when they’ll invite Sutton back on?
