ASIDE from watching their own team tonight, there will be many Aberdeen supporters keenly watching Scott Brown to see what the Celtic captain may still be able to offer their own side when he makes the trip north permanently this summer.
In the away dugout though, John Kennedy is already keenly aware of what Celtic will be losing. The interim manager may or may not be the man tasked with filling that huge void, not just in the middle of the park, but in the dressing room. And he isn’t quite sure where you might start as you look to replace his influence at the club.
“How do you go about it?”, Kennedy pondered. “Easier said than done.
“I think he’s a huge personality. I’ve seen Scott work for a long period of time now. And there’s very few like him in terms of how he comes in and conducts himself every single day.
“He’s one of the most driven players I’ve ever seen to be successful and maximise what he has. He’s a great role model, he’s been a terrific captain and obviously a huge success.
“It might not even be a case of replacing him, you might just have to adapt and adjust with other players and whoever else you bring in. Trying to find a replacement for Scott Brown isn’t easy.
“But again, the team needs to evolve and handle life without him. We’ll just have to address that as we move forward.
“But Scott will be a huge miss.”
The natural place to look in terms of replacing his leadership would be one notch down the dressing room pecking order, and Kennedy is in no doubt that Callum McGregor – as wildly different to Brown he may be - could take up the mantle.
“Callum is a different type of person, a different type of personality,” he said. “But a very strong individual.
“Callum is currently the vice-captain and every captain is different. The next captain shouldn’t be compared to Scott Brown. Scott Brown is very much all action, all out there, a very driven individual.
“But I’ve come across other captains in my time who lead by how they conduct themselves. They speak in a much calmer way because there are different ways of leading.
“Scott did things his way very well but Callum is a different type. He’s certainly one who can captain the club going forward but we’ll look at that in the summer probably.
“Everybody is different in their own right. Billy McNeill will be different from Paul McStay. Paul McStay will be different from Scott Brown. We’ve had amazing captains as far back as I remember in the history of the club and Scott is one of those who will be right up there in terms of what he’s given from his life to the club.
“But in terms of the success he’s given the club, we’ll probably look back in 50 years and nobody will have been able to replicate that success as a captain.
“So we will certainly miss him. He’s been a great servant to the club and we love him to bits but sadly life goes on.”
Though, not just yet. Brown still has four games left as Celtic skipper, and Kennedy has no qualms about pitting him against his future employers tonight. In fact, he thinks Brown will relish it.
“I don’t have an issue with it,” he said. “I’ve known him long enough to know how he works and whatever he does, he’s fully committed to where he is.
“He’s an experienced guy who won’t be fazed by anything so there’s no problem with taking him into consideration to play in the game. I know his personality and it won’t affect him in the slightest.
“We haven’t decided on that yet. What usually happens when the games come round so quickly is that you come in the day before and do a little work to cover all the bases and one or two players are carrying little knocks and niggles and we’ll make our decisions based on that. We know what we’re doing and what our game plan is.
“Scott never would [pull any punches]. He never goes into a training session half-hearted, never mind a game. So, I wouldn’t expect it to be any different and Scott would tell you the same.
“Scott maximises everything he does both in training and in games. He’s absolutely all out for everything. He parks all the ego stuff, he parks what might or might not be next season. He’s purely focused on doing the best he can for every game and winning.
“He’s an absolute serial winner. So it would be a scalp for him if he could go out and get one over his future employers. He would see that as a positive, never mind thinking about anything else.
“He is purely motivated to win for Celtic – and nothing else at the moment.”
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