Scott Brown WON'T return to Celtic alongside Brendan Rodgers as legend throws out Parkhead 'comfort blanket'

When Brendan Rodgers swept back into power in Glasgow’s east end there was an assumption made Scott Brown might return with him.

And when the man who skippered Celtic to Nine in a Row, left his first managerial job at Fleetwood at the start of this month, it may have felt like only a matter of time until he made his way home into the huddle. But Gordon Strachan knew better. It was Strachan who started this love affair back in 2007 when he signed Brown from Hibs. Now, 16 years on – and just two and half years after Brown walked out of Parkhead as a player for the final time – Strachan believes he will only go back if he can get there on merit, as a manager in his own right.

Which is why Strachan was not the least bit surprised to learn yesterday that Brown has spent the last couple of days in talks with little Cheltenham Town, as he ponders his own next step just a few weeks after the pain of his first ever sacking. Strachan said: “Yes, I’m sure there would be a place for him at Celtic if he wanted one.

"But would he really want to be at a place based upon past history? Because you can sniff that. You always want to go back on merit and that’s the way he’ll be thinking. He doesn’t want to see Celtic as some sort of comfort blanket, knowing he could always go back there into some sort of role.

“You’ve got to go out there and get past that and leave the blanket behind. That’s what he’s doing. He loves football and he loves football people. That’s what drives him. He loves getting on with people and seeing people getting better - that’s his thing.

“Ever since he became a captain he got this thing of seeing people around him enjoying themselves. That’s what he wants to do again - he wants to stay in football and he’s prepared