WE have wars – with more pending – famine and death are to be found everywhere, and a man who once starred in a trashy gameshow is about to go nuclear with the planet’s most unstable country whose one and only ally is China.
But the only true sign, for those who believe and those who do not, that four stable doors have been taken off their hinges would be if our own Scott Brown ever changed. That would be the end of days.
Thankfully, in these uncertain times, the bold Broony has no thoughts about being anything else other than himself. If only everything was as reliable.
The Scotland captain, his side’s best performer in the 3-0 win in Lithuania, is one of five players on a booking going into this evening’s game with Malta.
If he, Leigh Griffiths, Charlie Mulgrew and James McArthur get booked, they miss next month’s almost-impossible-to-explain-how-big-it-is match against Slovakia at Hampden. Grant Hanley is in the same boat but is unlikely to start.
Strachan has to play his strongest side tonight. For those who think “it’s only Malta” have obviously never watched the national team before. Scotland should at Hampden beat any a nation with no points at this stage,but why take the risk?
Griffiths will start. So will Mulgrew and McArthur. And, of course, the captain will be there playing in his usual style.
When put to him he was a booking away from a ban, a grin crept across Brown’s face and he said: “That’s my life! It happens every season, every campaign, that football.
“Two bookings in however many games we play is ridiculous but that is part and parcel of the game and I have to deal with it. Nothing will change the way I play. I am what I am.
“I always want to play hard but fair, although sometimes in the middle of the park you can mistime a tackle. It can’t be on the back of your mind going into a game. It’s about the country, it’s about the three points more than me.”
Brown has come off the back of one of his best matches for Scotland and at 32 is, it must be said, at his peak. That wasn’t the case a year ago, before Brendan Rodgers got to work, and the midfielder’s fitness and form, which seemed consigned to the history books, returned and then some.
He retired, was persuaded to return by Gordon Strachan who probably has to have another word after the defeat by England at Wembley.
In Brown’s own words; “I couldn’t let down the wee man.”
“I’ve enjoyed every single moment playing for my country,” he said. “We have had some great nights, winning away in France and winning my first cap against the USA.
“That’s why I came back. I missed it.
“At the time I felt there were people who could do a better job than me and I wasn’t fit enough. That’s why I retired the first time.
“I watched our first game (a 5-1 win in Malta) in my house. I was quite enjoying my time off at that point, to be fair. I made the right decision at the right time.
“I wasn’t properly fit. The new manager coming in at Celtic changed all that. I got a bit of belief and my fitness levels have kicked on. We’ve got different training, a different philosophy – and I was itching to come back.”
Brown has played Champions League, won doubles, trebles, become an invincible, broke Billy McNeill’s all-time European appearance record for Celtic, reinvented himself, to a degree, once or twice, and captained his country.
But he, like every single Scottish professional still playing today, has never been to either a European Championship or World Cup.
However, If Brown and Scotland win their next four games they will be in a play-off for Russia.
“Playing in a major finals is the one thing missing for me,” said Brown. “You go through your career wanting to improve and so it would be amazing if we could do this.
“‘We just have to take it one step at a time – and the next step is a huge game for us against Malta.”
“We know we’re favourites but we know how this has panned out in the past. Plenty of times we’ve come away from these games with a draw. So we need to make sure we don’t overstep ourselves.”
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