Michael Stewart has suggested in The Scottish Sun that Celtic manager Neil Lennon needs to rest Scott Brown from time to time this season.
The former Manchester United and Hibernian midfielder believes that Brown cannot play each and every game at his age.
The BBC pundit has said that the former Scotland international midfielder might not like not playing on a regular basis, but manager Lennon has to make that decision for the better of the team.
Stewart made the comments in the wake of Celtic getting the better of Lille at Celtic Park in their final Europa League game on Thursday evening.
The Scotsman wrote in The Scottish Sun: “The default position at Celtic for long enough has been that, if Brown is fit, he plays. But with that side, Lennon can look at the fixture list and pick the games he is going to play in.
“Now, Brown might not like that to begin with, but that’s how you move forward as a big club. I go back to United and what Sir Alex did with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes late in their careers.
“Giggs ended up playing one game in five and was able to have an impact on games at nearly 40. I’m not suggesting that’ll happen with Brown, but it makes sense to reduce his workload.”
Sensible suggestion
Brown is 35 years of age, and although he remains a very combative midfielder, he cannot be at his best each and every week.
It would make sense for Lennon to start resting the Scotsman – who has been on the books of Celtic since the summer of 2007 when he joined from Hibernian for a transfer fee reported by The Guardian to be worth £4.4 million – more and allowing him time to recover so that when he plays, he is at his absolute best.
According to WhoScored, Brown has made 12 starts and two substitute appearances in the Scottish Premiership, has played five times in the Europa League, thrice in the Scottish Cup, and once in the Scottish League Cup.
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