IT was a throwaway line, one not to be taken seriously, but those who overheard read a lot into the quip.

This was last July in the idyllic setting of Maribor, the city and region of Slovenia, where Brendan Rodgers worked his players hard for two weeks, a fortnight which we can now say for sure set the foundations for one of the great Celtic seasons of recent times.

Scott Brown was carrying a bag of footballs to the training ground when he passed the small press pack that spent a large part of their summer finding out what this new regime was all about.

“This is all I’m good for these days,” said the Celtic captain with a grin. Later that day over a protein shake, actually thinking back it might have been beers and pizza, we agreed reluctantly that there could be more truth in Brown’s line that he might want to admit to himself.

After all, in the previous campaign this was a player carried by his team on occasions. Perhaps carrying balls and cones was all the recently turned 31-year-old was good for. What a shame and yet it was no real shock given his long history of injury.

I will put my hands up and admit back then I did think we had seen the best of Scott Brown. By the end of last season he reminded me of myself after a particularly tricky game of five-a-side. He looked old. He looked done.

However, the bold Broony knew something we did not but were soon to discover. A five-week proper rest had worked wonders for his body. Brendan Rodgers had already made a huge impact on his skipper who liked and respected the new manager straight away, and also got what direction he was coming from and where he wanted Celtic to go.

Then came Gibraltar – yeah, that happened this season – and on a truly bonkers evening Brown spent a lot of that game engaging with some not-so friendly home supporters while having little or no influence on the match.

I could not have been the only person watching that game either live or on television who felt that Rodgers would have to spend money on a new central midfielder and that the captain’s armband would soon be on another arm.

But Brown has subsequently enjoyed the best season of his career by some distances. After that stumble, Celtic and their on-field leader have been unbeaten at home, made the Champions League, are on course for a treble and if the club can keep its manager and the core of the present squad, they will dominate Scottish football for a long time and would have more than a decent chance of making real progress in Europe.

Brown has been central to all of this. The fire remains, as does the temper, but this is a far more nuanced player we’ve watched this season. His reading of the game has always been good; however, he has stepped up several levels in this department.

He has scored a few goals, has made plenty and there have been some games when Brown has been head and shoulders above both team-mates and opponents.

It’s become a cliché to say a player has "run the game" which to be honest rarely happens. Brown has run games this season. His performance against Manchester City at home was his finest for the club. There have been several candidates for that title these last nine months.

Even in that dreadful night in the Nou Camp, Brown actually played well and apparently did not keep his thoughts to himself which went along the lines of Celtic don’t lose even goals against anyone.

His best moment? That came on the last day of 2016 when Celtic were behind to Rangers at Ibrox, Brown’s team were well below their best and losing too many battles in the centre of the park.

The captain knew things had to change. So in front of the Sandy Jardine stand, Brown deliberately fouled Andy Halliday. He accepted his yellow card then turned and roared at his team-mates as if to say; “This is a f****** Old Firm game ya ****. Give yourself a shake and f****** get stuck in.”

There was only going to be one winner after that.

And don’t give me that it’s not in the spirit of the game. That’s professional football and even the best need a reminder at times. The Celtic players visibly improved from that moment on. All because of Brown.

And then there is the step-over. He produced on almost every game. That never happened when he was 18.

Rodgers has obviously been hugely influential. The Northern Irishman is the best manager Brown has ever had. He gets him, more than anyone before, knew what his key man needed to improve upon and told him when they had dinner together weeks before the squad met up.

And don’t ignore the role of first-team coach Chris Davies. The two quickly forged a close relationship. Training has become a joy when last year it became a chore.

Brown has captained Celtic to six league titles now and you fancy Celtic to go on undefeated. He’s definitely the best ball carrier the club has ever had. Well done, Broony.