Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says there will be a place for Scott Brown on the coaching staff at the club when his playing career ends, and that he could even follow in the footsteps of Neil Lennon by becoming the manager.

Rodgers doesn’t know what Brown’s plans are for after he hangs up his boots, but he is adamant that he should be kept around Celtic Park in some capacity so that his influence isn’t lost to the club.

“You wouldn’t want Scott lost to the game,” said Rodgers. “You’d want him involved.

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“Whether he is a manager or not, we’ll see. That old-fashioned way doesn’t work sometimes nowadays.

“I had a joke with him when I saw his picture picking up the balls. He didn’t look like he should be picking up the balls.

“It was a great picture and I said to him you don’t look like a coach as he was reluctantly carrying the bag.

“But he’s got a few years left in him playing and then, at some point, it’s about what he fancies.

“He’s certainly going to be someone that, if he finishes his career at Celtic, there will be a place somewhere in the backroom staff for them. But it’s then what you want to do.

“He might want to do what Lenny done and go on from being captain to manage. That might be something.”

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In the more immediate future, a question mark still hangs over Brown’s future with his country, with the player himself stressing that he is eager to chat to whoever the new manager may be as soon as possible to find out where he stands.

Rodgers is known to be concerned over the toll that international football may take on the 32-year-old’s body, but he says he will support his player’s decision either way.

“I haven’t spoken to him recently [about Scotland] and I don’t think you need to make a big decision on it now as there are now games until March,” he said.

“It was a friendly game and he was there to support, to be around the squad and use his experience to help Malky.

“We’ll just see. There is no pressure from me. We just need to make sure he is fit and available for Celtic and take it from there.”

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Brown himself has tipped Celtic teammate Kieran Tierney to eventually take over captaincy duties from him when the time does come for him to hang up his boots for both club and country, after a great performance as he led his country for the first time against The Netherlands.

“The wee man was phenomenal, and I think that’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from a young kid coming through and captaining his country,” said Brown.

“At 20-year-old to come in and captain your country at centre-half which isn’t even his position, to do what he did was fantastic.

“He was playing against top quality players and he made it look nice and easy. He was controlling things and bringing it out from the back.

“It was great to watch, and it was everything that our manager at Celtic wants him to do, and he did it at centre-half.

“He’s definitely the man for the job after me. Everybody looks up to him because of his will to win in training and in games. He goes into tackles and you know he’s going to win it, and he puts that belief in everybody.”