It was a tough summer for Celtic as not only did they lose star man, Moussa Dembele but they also had to deal with the transfer speculation surrounding the likes of Olivier Ntcham and Dedryck Boyata.
As a result of their tumultuous summer and the lack of relative funding Rodgers had in comparison to previous years, Celtic made a slightly sluggish start to their season. In the early weeks of the league season, it looked as though Celtic were going to be pushed for the title by a resurgent Rangers, a stronger Hearts side and a Kilmarnock team that was a complete surprise package.
Recently, however, the club has settled into some form and has risen to the top of the table following two back to back 5-0 wins in the league.
Rodgers is looking to make 10 successive league titles this season while also completing a historic treble-treble. A key figure in the club’s success over the years has been club captain, Scott Brown who has missed seven games due to injury this year and could well leave the club at the end of the year after 11 years in Glasgow, to join the Australian A-League.
Joining from Hibernian in 2007, Brown has been a leading figure in the club’s dominance over the last decade and since then, the battling midfielder has gone to make 484 appearances for the club while also winning eight league titles, four league cups and four Scottish Cups.
A player who leads by example, albeit sometimes he can overstep the mark, Brown’s time at the club may well be about to come to a close in Glasgow.
Since he’s been injured, Rodgers has chosen to play a midfield of Callum McGregor, Tom Rogic and Ryan Christie in a midfield three with McGregor looking especially good. While the club captain has vital experience and is a natural leader on the pitch, if Rodgers wants to take Celtic to the next level and hopefully for the fans, European glory, he has to consider ending Brown’s career at the club.
With a talented crop of midfielders in the side, Brown is now not as essential to the side as he once was. From the player’s perspective, at 33, he’s done about as much as he can at the club and a new challenge in Australia may be the final deserved payday for a player that has given so much to the club.
