The sad news that former Scotland, Aberdeen and Motherwell manager Craig Brown had passed away has left Scottish football is in mourning as tributes pour in for one of the games most popular figures.
Born in Glasgow in 1940, Brown managed the national team a total of 71 times, a feat no other manager has achieved, and was the last man to lead Scotland to a World Cup finals in 1998. Brown also managed Aberdeen, Motherwell, Preston North End and Clyde in a management career that lasted from 1977 all the way to 2013.
As a player he turned out for the likes of Rangers, Dundee and Falkirk and enjoyed a career in football that lasted over 50 years. During that time, Brown become of the most recognised and loved faces in the game and was never short of a quote or a story that could raise a smile and showcased his fantastic career in the sport.
Here are 10 of Craig Brown’s best quotes.
1. On asking Monaco midfielder John Collins for French lesson at France 1998
"I said to him, 'can you give me some French for my interviews?' and he gave me a phrase that startled the journalists. It was 'victoire ou défaite, importe c'est la fete', which translates to 'victory or defeat, the most important thing is the fun'."
2. On receiving a phone call from Alex Ferguson to ask him to be assistant manager of Scotland
“He said, “Broon, how would you like the holiday of a lifetime? I’ve been asked to take the Scottish team to the World Cup in Mexico. I’d like Walter Smith, Archie Knox and you to join me as the coaching staff. We have a minimum of 3 games to play, but we won’t let that interfere with our enjoyment!”
3. On managing Ally McCoist
“I told him to warm up when we played in Saint Etienne during a match and he replied cheekily ‘Not before time!’ which made everyone laugh as it was in jest. While he was warming up, we only went and scored with a goal by Gordon Durie. I had to tell Ally that he wasn’t coming on now to which he replied ‘Durie has one goal in six years… prolific stuff’ and again that made everyone laugh as there was no anger or malice to it. Only Ally could get away with that and I loved working with him.”
4. On the best player that he had to prepare one of his teams to face
“As a manager, the toughest individual opponent we faced was Ronaldo of Brazil. He was the best striker in the world at the time and Sir Bobby Robson told me that he was the best player he ever managed by a distance.”