Scott Brown shares 'unbelievable' Celtic meeting with Paul Tisdale and two transfers he'd make at Hoops
The Celtic legend had meetings with the sacked head of football operations.
Scott Brown has provided his take on Paul Tisdale after the head of football operations was sacked at Celtic - as he named two transfers he feels the Hoops need.
The former Parkhead captain is now manager at Championship side Ayr United and has been watching on over developments at his ex-side, after the sacking of head coach Wilfried Nancy. He and his coaching staff have gone after just eight games with Tisdale also sacked after the debacle, as Martin O’Neill returns as gaffer to the end of the season, backed up by the likes of player-pathway manager Shaun Maloney.
Ayr have signed a co-operation agreement with Celtic, a new loan system installed by the SFA. It allows players aged 16-21, who are eligible to represent the Scotland national teams, to join a lower-league club and move between the parent and cooperation club throughout the season. Ayr have had Jude Bonnar and Kyle Ure this season with Brown admitting Tisdale was a key factor he was impressed by in the process, alongside Maloney and Darren O’Dea, who was still at Celtic prior to joining Swansea City.
What Celtic transfer meetings did Scott Brown have?
He told the Breakdown: “Paul was really good for me. He was unbelievable for me. So him, Sean Maloney, they been unbelievable, Darren O’Dea as well. We had to go and present to Darren at the time and it was Paul, and they couldn't be any more complimentary on what we wanted to do, and why we wanted it.
“They signed the co-op deal, no problem whatsoever. That was a lot of thanks to Paul and Sean. I'm not going to lie, I was texting Brendan, ‘please help us out here lads!’ But no, they were really good, getting players in, and Sean's been unbelievable with it as well. Even when he went back in with Martin, Sean's been on the phone, texting, asking how the lads are doing.”
In terms of the first team that O’Neill has inherited, having already been interim gaffer after Brendan Rodgers’ resignation, Brown reckons the hero who managed at Celtic between 2000-2005 needs a defender and centre-back. He said: “They will get money to spend, it's just bringing in the right quality. I think you need a centre half, you need a centre forward.
Who do Celtic need to keep this January?
"I think you need to keep Callum McGregor in that team. Keep Callum no matter what. Because Cal knows the club, knows what it's all about. He's won so many trophies over the years and he's missed the reliable.
“I think that's a big thing. Celtic need to get back to that core in the middle of the park, centre half and centre forward, reliable, robust. Callum looks after himself, unbelievable. That's why he plays week in, week out. And he's probably one of the best pros that I've ever seen.
“So the thing for Cal. who plays 65 games a season, he gave up Scotland to focus on his Celtic career. Which is fantastic because it'll hopefully give him that longevity. You'd done that, didn't you? I'd done that because I was terrible with Scotland. See, as soon as I left Scotland, they went back to the Euros."