Scott Brown has spoken of the importance of his first meeting with Neil Lennon in 2007, as the Celtic captain leaves the club after 14 years.
Brown joined Celtic in 2007 in part to replace Neil Lennon in midfield, and told Sky Sports why it was such a daunting prospect to meet him.
"That day, before I signed, I was literally sat in the manager's office. Gordon says to me: 'Half an hour, I've got to go and do the press - help yourself to some juice in the fridge and some sarnies.'
"I literally went to go and sit down and Lenny's walked in, and I'm thinking 'this is my worst nightmare'. Me and this guy have been fighting for the last five years, and we probably don't have a lot in common.
"Lenny says 'come here, let's talk' and he started talking about his love for the club and how much it means to him - the fans, taking part in training, being a part of the club and being a captain of the club means.
"I'm going: 'This guy's a great guy, where's this going?' He kept talking and he was talking me up as well. He says 'you are going to love it at Celtic: this club is made for you. You are a winner, a fighter and will run through walls for people.'
"At this moment, I thought: this is a bit of me."
Scott Brown and Neil Lennon
Brown says that the meeting with Neil Lennon helped to reassure him that he had made the right decision to join the Hoops.
"I knew from speaking to Neil and to Gordon that I'd made the right decision in coming here. This is what I'm all about. I walked outside Celtic Park and there were fans outside chanting and I was there thinking that this was incredible.
"There were 60,000 there, and after speaking to Lenny he said that he was sad to leave but he was hoping that he'd be back. Six to nine months later and Gordon brings him back in and me and Lenny hit it off really well.
"Me and Lenny hit it off really well and continued that bond the whole way through - the first time he left as manager we kept in touch the whole time. When he came back as well, it was those small occasions that meant so much.
"What he did for my football career at the start was give me that little bit of belief in myself, and had that time to sit me down and chat to me about Celtic. He didn't need to do that but he was doing that as a leaving Celtic captain to a young player and it showed you the respect he had for the club coming in."
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