BRENDAN RODGERS has a way about him, so much so when he speaks, he does it with such calmness and conviction he rarely leaves an opening for anyone to criticise the tone of what he’s saying.

Some fans prefer a Neil Lennon ‘heart on sleeve’ approach when it comes to dealing with people who want to put you and your players down but I prefer the Rodgers approach.

Today as the media asked their usual leading questions, the Irishman was asked if he believes Scott Brown was a ‘scalp’, his response went straight to the heart of what makes Scott Brown tick and was sure to upset anyone who loves to hate the Celtic captain.

“Based on my time up here, there is a lot of envy towards Scott Brown. I see it in certain media sectors, I see it in the playing sector and I see it from managers.

“He is a player that instead of being envious over should be emulated.

“What very rarely gets talked about is what a really good footballer he is.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work at the top end of the Premier League and this is a player who goes right in at the top end of the Premier League.

“Yes, he is one of those characters, I had it with Luis Suarez… every ground you went to Luis got it but it only raised his performance level. Scott is the same, in terms of that mentality to the game.”

Brendan told the press that when you’re a winner like Broony you’re probably going to be targeted:

“When you are that type, of course you are going to be liable to be targeted at times but he deals with that.

“He is also a very fair and honest player.

“If you can produce more Scottish players like that you’d have some quality players.

“I read a report about him being ‘mediocre’.

“He’s not that, just because he’s chosen to stay in Scotland, he’s a top class player at one of the world’s biggest clubs.”