Rodgers backs Scott Brown to bag Celtic backroom role after retirement

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers feels club-captain Scott Brown could be associated with the Hoops even after he calls quits on his professional career. The former Liverpool boss has backed the 32-year-old to follow in the footsteps of Neil Lennon and become a future head coach at Parkhead.

Brown will chalk up a landmark against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night as he will have served 10 years with the Scottish champions. The veteran is also expected to mark his 68th outing in the Champions League in midweek, and this will match Kenny Dalglish's all-time appearance record for a Scottish player in the elite competition.

Speaking in the lead up to the Paris Saint-Germain, Rodgers said a few fond words about the Hoops and Scotland captain, who expects to prolong his association with football once he decides to end his playing career, he said: "You wouldn’t want Scott lost to the game when he stops playing. You would always want him involved.

"He’s certainly going to be someone that, if he finishes his career at Celtic, there will be a place somewhere in the backroom staff here for him. But it’s then a case of what he wants to do. He might want to do what Lenny did and go on from being captain to being manager. That might be something."

Meanwhile, Rodgers was coy about discussing Brown's future with Scotland after the European nation failed to make next summer's World Cup finals. Brown has played an instrumental role in the nation's rise of late, but they have not been able to reach the big stage they have craved for since the millennium. Celtic are currently out of contention for the knockout phase of the Champions League, but they still have the opportunity of reaching the last 32 of Europa League, providing they hang onto the third spot ahead of Belgian heavyweights Anderlecht.