It has been a while since Scott Brown retired from the game. He left Celtic in the summer of 2021 to join Aberdeen in a player-coach role. He did end up leaving Pittodrie Stadium in the middle of the campaign and would later announce his retirement from the game. It was not the fairy tale ending that a player of his magnitude deserved.
One almost unbelievable stat about all of this is the fact that Brown was on the pitch the last time the Rangers conceded a penalty in league competition. That was back in January 2022. 23 months and 71 games ago.
A lot is made about the number of penalties that the Rangers are handed. But the lack of spot-kicks that the Ibrox club concede speaks volumes too.
Brown certainly had an amusing reaction to the matter. As reported by the Daily Record, when he was made aware of the penalty stats, the Celtic icon said:
"Is that the last time they conceded a penalty? I’ve been retired that long .. since they last had a penalty against them (in the league)! That’s incredible, eh? It’s good to see VAR is working well!"
Celtic legend Scott Brown reacts to Rangers penalty stat
Let the numbers speak for themselves. For the time being though, Celtic have far more bigger worries on their hands.
The club just have not gotten it going this season, following the arrival of Brendan Rodgers in the summer. Jota and Carl Starfelt might be the only key players who have left, but this looks like a shell of Ange Postecoglou's team, which was unstoppable in domestic competitions in the previous campaign.
Rodgers does need to be back in the upcoming January transfer window. Not enough quality was added to the squad over the summer. The Hoops brought in a number of highly-rated youngsters but most of them are not ready to be starting games for Celtic.
What Celtic need to do in January is sign players who ready to be starters from the get-go. Can they do that? Time shall tell.