Scott Brown arrived on The Breakdown podcast with the news already breaking and even with his Celtic past, the current Ayr United boss didn’t hesitate when the conversation turned to the chaos unfolding across the city.
With Wilfried Nancy gone after a disastrous run, Brown’s verdict was blunt: Celtic had reached the point of no return.
“He’s off. Incredible,” Brown said as the panel digested the announcement.
“[He] Had to go mate, you had to go. You cannot lose six games out of eight as a Celtic manager and stay.”
For Brown, it wasn’t simply the results - it was the manner of them.
The goals conceded, the fragility, and the sense that Celtic were playing with a tactical handbrake permanently half-pulled.
“You look through the managers that have not been a success in the past; Tony Mowbray, John Barnes - he lost six games in six months or something,” Brown added.
“You cannot lose six games out of eight or concede that amount of goals.”
Brown admitted there were moments where Celtic looked like a side capable of playing, particularly in flashes and “certain halves”, but he dismissed that as nowhere near enough in Glasgow’s unforgiving environment.
“There was good games and spells, certain halves, but it’s not enough,” he said.
“Even his press comments before the game the other day - I just didn’t believe in what he was saying.”
And while Brown’s roots are obviously Celtic, his tactical breakdown of the Old Firm defeat will strike a chord with Rangers supporters - particularly his view on why Celtic’s switch to a back three left them exposed when Rangers turned up the heat in the second half.
“Back three at Celtic, you can get pinned back as quick as you possibly can,” he said.
“The three becoming a five - you end up becoming a five, going so deep.”
Brown highlighted how quickly a back three can collapse into survival mode when the opponent has pace and intent - and he namechecked Rangers second-half surge as the perfect example.
“Two wingers, nice and high and Rangers got good pace so you’re obviously, you worry about that,” he said.
“You end up going all the way back and you end up losing numbers and momentum going forward because I thought the first half performance was really good.”
That line, losing numbers and momentum going forward, captured exactly what Rangers exploited after the break.
Once Danny Röhl tweaked Rangers approach and the physical intensity rose, Celtic’s shape retreated and the game tilted sharply.
Brown also offered a broader point that will resonate at Ibrox: in Glasgow, a manager can’t arrive with ideology alone. You need adaptability, buy-in, and above all, wins.
“For me, it depends on what players you’ve got there.
“And the position and the shape. You need to adapt, don’t you?” Brown said, speaking from the perspective of a working manager.
While he stated his preference - “I want to play 4-3-3. I always want to play 4-3-3” - he immediately reinforced the reality that system comes second to what your squad can actually execute.
“We’ve got the players that we’ve brought in suit a back five,” he said of his own Ayr side.
“So, it’s easy. We can go to a back four at times but we’re just better suited in a back five.
“We’re more solid defensively in this league. There’s a lot of physicality.”
It was a subtle but telling contrast to what Rangers fans have watched across the city: Celtic trying to force a structure regardless of what was happening in front of them, and Rangers adapting - then punishing them for it.
And in one of the most revealing themes of Brown’s appearance, he returned repeatedly to the same truth that defines this season’s title chase: results are the only thing that buys you time.
“You need to win, don’t you?” he said.
“At the end of the day, you have to win games.”
For Rangers, that’s the takeaway - and the opportunity. Celtic are resetting again and once again turning to 73-year-old Martin O’Neill to save their season, the third change to their dugout in just three months.
Rangers are building momentum, belief and a clearer identity under Röhl. Brown’s analysis, even coming from a man who wore green for most of his career, only underlines how quickly the balance can swing in Glasgow when one club gets clarity, and the other loses it.