According to Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, Hoops skipper and legend Scott Brown could follow in the steps of Neil Lennon in becoming a boss of the club after hanging the boots.
Lennon retired from playing football a year after leaving Celtic in 1997, and after joining the club’s backroom staff and later taking charge of the reserve team, he was appointed manager of the first team in 2010.
At 32, Brown is steadily approaching the twilight of a glorious playing career at Parkhead, and given his charisma and love for the club, Rodgers feels it’s better he joins the coaching crew afterwards.
The Northern Irishman recently revealed: “You wouldn’t want Scott lost to the game.
“You’d want him involved. Whether he is a manager or not, we’ll see. That old-fashioned way doesn’t work sometimes nowadays.
“I had a joke with him when I saw his picture picking up the balls. He didn’t look like he should be picking up the balls.
“It was a great picture and I said to him you don’t look like a coach as he was reluctantly carrying the bag.
“But he’s got a few years left in him playing and then, at some point, it’s about what he fancies.
“He’s certainly going to be someone that, if he finishes his career at Celtic, there will be a place somewhere in the backroom staff for him. But it’s then what you want to do.
“He might want to do what Lenny done and go on from being captain to manager. That might be something.”
Great captains necessary don’t turn out to be great managers, but Lennon went on to record success at Parkhead, winning 3 Scottish league championships, 2 Scottish Cups and qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League twice.
Brown has spent 10 years at Celtic since arriving from Hibernian, and is few games from reaching 300 games for the club.
The Scotland international has been captain since 2010, and has won 7 Scottish Premiership titles, and 3 Scottish Cups and Scottish League Cups apiece.
