Scott Brown has made clear just how strongly he felt about Peter Grant during his time at Celtic, saying he would have left straight away if Tony Mowbray and Grant had remained in place. Speaking on Open Goal, the former Celtic captain framed the issue as one of man management and personality rather than football ability, and his verdict leaves little room for doubt.
Brown also contrasted that spell with the change that followed when Neil Lennon arrived. He said Celtic began winning games again and the mood shifted quickly, suggesting that the atmosphere around the team had changed as much as the results.
That is the key point in Brown’s comments. This was not simply a passing criticism of a coach he did not get on with. It was a direct explanation of why he believes the dressing-room balance improved once Lennon replaced Mowbray and Grant moved on.
Brown’s blunt view on Peter Grant Celtic
Brown did not soften his assessment. “I had no time for Peter Grant whatsoever,” he said, before adding that the issue was “man management” and “personal.”
He also drew a clear distinction between the two men. “Tony, I got on alright. But Peter Grant, no,” Brown said, underlining that his problem was specifically with Grant rather than the whole coaching setup.
Those remarks sit at the centre of the story. Brown is not just recalling a difficult period; he is saying that Grant’s presence alone would have been enough to push him out of Celtic.
The moment the momentum changed
Brown linked the coaching change directly to Celtic’s form. “Lenny came in and we started winning games and the momentum changed from when Tony was there,” he said.
That is a straightforward assessment, but an important one. For Brown, the arrival of Lennon brought not only results but a different feeling around the team, and that in turn made staying at Celtic more attractive.
He went even further when asked to imagine what might have happened if Mowbray and Grant had stayed. “I think if Tony and Peter Grant were still there, I’d have been away straight away,” Brown said.
Premier League interest that never turned into a move
Brown also spoke about the interest he had attracted while at Celtic, and it underlines how close he came to leaving Scotland. After his second season at Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur offered him the chance to go down there and put in a bid.
He said Newcastle later came in as well, offering him a five-year deal at the end of his first contract and just before Lennon arrived. Brown admitted the idea of moving south had its own appeal, joking: “Imagine me, I'm bad enough in Glasgow, imagine how many nights out I'd have in Newcastle!”
In the end, Brown stayed at Celtic. But his comments show that the decision was not only about transfer offers or contract length. The culture around the team mattered too, and in Brown’s telling, Peter Grant was part of the reason it nearly went the other way.
For Celtic supporters, the remarks reopen a familiar discussion about that era: how much of success comes down to coaching quality, and how much comes down to relationships inside the dressing room. Brown has made his view plain. When Lennon arrived, things changed. With Grant, he says, they simply were not working.
