The club have officially denounced Keith Jackson's article in this morning's Daily Record which specifically stated that manager Tony Mowbray had told Scott Brown that he had no future at Celtic Park. This particular downmarket tabloid's attempts to cause unrest amongst the Celtic squad, management and support knows no bounds as we've witnessed many times before. They may have been forced into more subtle manoeuvrings since their Fergus/Saddam comparisons and 'Thugs and Thieves' heydays but their agenda is never in doubt.
Hopefully the legal advice received by the club will include recommendations of court action and banning orders.
The official site statement (link):
CELTIC Football club have today rejected an erroneous newspaper story regarding Scott Brown, which claimed manager Tony Mowbray informed the midfielder that he had no future at the club. The story, which appeared on Wednesday morning, has been dismissed by both Tony Mowbray and Scott Brown as being totally without foundation. The club is currently taking legal advice over the issue.
Scott remains a central figure in the manager's long-term plans for Celtic and Tony can categorically state that he has never told the player that he wants him to leave the club. The Celtic manager said: "The story is absolute nonsense. I never told Scott Brown that I want him to leave the club. Scott is a huge player for Celtic and absolutely part of the future plans of this club. I have worked with Scott for a number of years and have a great relationship with him. It's disappointing that people are able to write things which are so inaccurate."
"But I know our supporters will understand that unfortunately this is one of the things we need to deal with. I am sure they will also know that we are all working together at Celtic to do all we can to achieve success for the club,"
Scott Brown said: "Obviously I am very disappointed with this article as there is no foundation to it. I have worked with the manager for some time and have a very good relationship with him. It's disappointing to have been out for so long with an injury but I'm looking forward to getting back to full fitness as soon as possible and getting back in to the team for the second half of the season."
As a club, we can only speculate about the motivation of such an erroneous article but we can assure the Celtic supporters that we will not allow this type of reporting to unsettle the club or the player. At this stage of the season, it's more important than ever that everyone at Celtic Football Club and the supporters pull together. We will not let this be disrupted by any outside interference.