Celtic captain Scott Brown announced his retirement from international duty on Monday.
Celtic icon Chris Sutton has reacted instantly on Twitter after Hoops captain Scott Brown decided to retire from international duty on Monday.
The 32-year-old announced on Celtic’s official website that he has decided to rule himself out from Scotland selection for good after earning 55 caps for his country, following his debut in November 2005 against USA under Walter Smith.
Brown stated that he has held talks with Alex McLeish over the weekend, who took over as Scotland manager earlier this month. But Brown has decided not to continue his Scotland duty in order to keep himself fit for Celtic.
“I have spoken to Alex McLeish over the weekend,” Brown said. “I really wanted to tell Alex first what I was thinking about things.
“As I said to Alex, I felt that, given the demands which are increasing all the time in football and at this stage of my career, I wasn’t able to give both my club and country my best and I needed to focus purely on Celtic at this time.”
However, now he seems to have hung up his boots for good in order to further his playing career for Scottish champions Celtic and Sutton described the decision as “bad news for Scotland, great news for Celtic.”
Brown had previously retired in the summer of 2016 but reconsidered his decision before returning in November 2016 to play against England under Gordon Strachan.
McLeish still has plenty of midfielders to choose from, with Celtic duo Callum McGregor and Stuart Armstrong just two to mention from a whole host of players looking to force their way into his squad.
Scotland are in action in about a month’s time, as they face Costa Rica on March 23 before travelling to Hungary four days later.
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