Charlie Nicholas has joined in the condemnation of Scott Brown for smiling, laughing and celebrating during Celtic’s victory in the Glasgow derby.
The former hoops striker is a serial critic of all things Celtic with his column in the Daily Star providing an outlet for his anger.
Nicholas follows a predictable line about the good old days of dignity and respect when players were gentlemen obeying the laws of the game in full.
Roy Aitken and Danny McGrain weren’t strangers to the dark arts of the game during Nicholas’ brief Celtic career, two genuine legends of the club, Bertie Auld and Davie Hay didn’t take liberties when it came to injustices on the pitch.
By the weekend Brown could join the elite group of players to have won nine championship medals, during his two Celtic spells Nicholas won the title twice.
Detailing his issues with Brown in the Daily Star, Nicholas explained:
The likes of Billy McNeill, John Greig, Jimmy Johnstone and Willie Henderson might have hated each other for 90 minutes but, my God, they respected each other. That has gone.
When I played, I was told to look people in the eye and shake their hand, win, lose or draw. You had to swallow that bitter pill when you lost but it was all about respect.
Many among the Celtic support lap up what Scott does but I don’t like it. He helped them get the job done but I don’t recall anything he did with the ball that I could applaud.
I’ve never been a fan of Scott’s style but I do respect the qualities he has and all the trophies he’s won.
I freely admit I’m jealous of what he’s achieved. That jealousy doesn’t mean I don’t like him. He is a limited footballer who sacrifices a lot for the team. But there is a difference when you overstep the line.
In January Nicholas predicted an Ibrox title party following the signings of Jermain Defoe and Steve Davis.
