He’s a much-hated figure out with Celtic Park, but the effect Scott Brown has had on Celtic since Neil Lennon‘s appointment as manager means he’s much-loved among the Parkhead support. He makes it at #9.

To the Celtic fans, he was signed as the attacking midfielder to breathe creativity and goals in to the life of Gordon Strachan’s team in 2007, but what they’ve had since then has been something completely different.

The £4.4 million price tag made him the most expensive transfer between two Scottish clubs so the expectation was, quite rightly, high. He’d already been capped internationally after swashbuckling displays for Hibs under Tony Mowbray and then John Collins. He played with power and pace combined with a brash approach to getting in the mind of his opponents. Did he have the ability to succeed at Celtic? Was the temperament for such a big club there?

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Time has told. Where his ability isn’t quite what some people want it to be, Brown provides the thrust and industry to a Celtic team rich on invention. His haphazard passing and inability to shoot with any consistent accuracy means he’ll never be an attacking midfielder Celtic can rely on for goals – the fact he’s never hit double figures for goals in a season is further evidence of that – but his constant running, work rate and snarling attitude makes him the perfect man to set the tone. Think of the controversial Neil Lennon when he played for Celtic, Scott Brown has all the negative attributes which makes him such a hated figure among opposition fans, like his manager, but he also has more ability on and off the ball to have a bigger effect on the game.

He’s been the lynchpin for setting the Celtic standard this year, a captain doing everything to lead a successful team and for that he makes it in to our list at #9.

What the experts say about Scott Brown:

“He’s ticking along brilliantly. I think he’s in the form of his life and has been for most of the season.” – Neil Lennon, Celtic manager.