SCOTT BROWN does not scare easily but even he was terrified by the prospect of phoning Gordon Strachan to tell him he was retiring from Scotland duty.
The only thing which petrified the player more was the too real fear his career at Celtic would be cut short, perhaps by a number of years, if he continued to drag his weary body around Europe with the national team, thus depriving himself hardly any time off.
Something had to give and that was international football. It was not an easy decision. It was not an easy phone call.
Brown admitted: “I tried to call Gordon about eight times but I kept pushing that red button on my phone. I was thinking, ‘oh s***, what’s he going to say?’ Is he going to go off on one? As soon as I managed to make the call I told him what I was thinking and he understood my decision 100 percent.
“He said, ‘I’ll miss you but you have to focus on yourself and what you need to do and try to push on as long as you can.’ He didn’t try to talk me out of it. He knows I am a very stubborn person when my mind is made up.
Read more: Scotland manager Gordon Strachan out to deliver a big result and make the nation happy
“I knew my mind was made up after having that five weeks off and feeling the best I’ve felt in a couple of years. He knew there was no going back.”
A revitalised Brown has started this season the way he used to; at 100mph and looking every inch a top class midfielder. Should Celtic get past Hapoel Be’er Sheva then the Champions League waits and right now you would back the captain to show up against the very best.
But had he kept going with Scotland, if the case was that he faced two-to-three games every single week, then the 31-year-old was not going to be at his best in Madrid, Munich or Manchester.
Brendan Rodgers is a fan of his skipper but he wouldn’t want nor need a veteran midfielder with a dodgy medical history who can only last an hour or so in a game.
“The big thing for me quitting Scotland is it’s probably put another couple of years on my Celtic career,” said Brown. “I’ve got two years left on my deal right now and the way I feel I can see myself at Celtic until I am 35 or 36 - maybe even longer.
“If I continued playing with Scotland it would, maybe not drain me, but it would have an impact on my performances for Celtic. The seasons are getting longer each year. A couple of years ago we only had two weeks off - if you can call it that because you never switch off.
“You’ve got Scotland games on the 9th or 10th of June and then you’re back with Celtic for the Champions League qualifiers a few weeks later.
“It’s incredible for any player. The seasons are getting longer but it’s not like my career is getting longer, especially if I kept that up. I think it was a wise decision. I can focus just one Celtic now. In my mind all I am thinking about is prolonging my Celtic career.”
The door remains open but Brown is adamant he won’t walk back through it.
He said: “For me, you have to play Saturday/Wednesday weeks in a row up to Christmas and doing double sessions when you are away with Scotland. You are away from your family and friends.
“It’s hard on your body more than anything so at my age it’s the right time to call it a day. Especially with the gaffer coming in and the way we have been playing.
"We are pressing so high up the park and it takes a lot of energy, I need to try to rebuild and it had to be one of the other so it had to be Scotland that had to go.”
Brown has been there for the great and ghastly European moments for Celtic over the last ten years. He has missed the Champions League badly and is desperate to return to a time when midweek nights at Celtic Park were something to look forward to.
“I think if you look at the game on Wednesday, the fans the stadium, the whole place was bouncing again,” said the man who has played more European games for the club than anyone else. “We want to bring that back.
"The gaffer’s done as much as he can, helping the fans come along and supporting the lads as much as he possibly can – but now it’s our turn to step up and do our bit.”
Celtic are just 90 minutes of sensible football away from where they want to be. Hapoel are a decent side, which they showed now and then last week, but Brown has a feeling that nothing can stop his own side.
“It does feel like the start of something,” he said. “The manager has been brilliant. It’s been a great pre-season so far and going through would be the icing on the cake.”
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