John Hartson believes that Scot Brown’s summertime visit to London was one of the most significant moments of the season.
New boss Brendan Rodgers could have swept out the old guard and there would have been no complaints.
No tears would have been shed if the Irishman had cleared out the players that lost a Scottish Cup semi-final to Sevco- the ultimate insult in a season of never ending misery.
A dozen new players, a few promising kids and no more than half a dozen survivors from the Ronny Deila era would have been a good enough start for most Celtic fans.
Rodgers did his homework, watched the DVD’s and invited Brown to his London home to get the inside track on what went wrong.
An instant rapport was struck up between the two with this season’s side on the brink of matching the Lisbon Lions unbeaten record of 26 matches.
John Hartson has watched the transformation with interest. Rodgers took his home town side Swansea into the Premier League while Celtic gave him his greatest playing days.
The records are there in front of Celtic ready to tumble with the combination of manager and skipper driving everyone on to new levels- including each other.
Reflecting on the start of that relationship Hartson told The Sun: “He knew how important Brown was going to be for him and made a big effort to get him on-side.
“He invited the club captain to his home in London where Brown was given the big-sell from Brendan on what he was planning to do as manager.
“He knew he needed Brown to buy into it, but he also made it clear that there would be a new set of standards being implemented in the dressing room.
“That must have been music to Brown’s ears because it was a mess under Ronny Deila.
“Fair play to him for being man enough to look Brendan in the eye and tell him he was prepared to be his leader on and off the park.
“Brendan then told him he’d make him a better player, which he undoubtedly has done.
“From what I can see, Broony has risen to every challenge that’s ever been put in front of him.
“He has real loyalty, standing by Deila last season even when it had become an almighty mess.
“It couldn’t have been easy for him to bite his tongue when the training was poor and the results weren’t good enough but Broony tried his best to lead and did it magnificently.
“His reward for that is a manager now who is getting the very best out of him.”
