Greatest Premier XI: Brown or Greig? Aitken or Lennon? Who's our dream team's midfield general?

Herald and Times Sport writers have managed to come up with the man they believe have been the outstanding enforcer since the Premier Division was formed in 1975.

Craig Brown, the former Scotland, Motherwell and Aberdeen manager, and Archie Knox, the ex- Aberdeen, Rangers and Scotland assistant, have also offered their expert opinions.

Our decisions have been based on three criteria - ability, longevity and success.

5

Name: Roy Aitken.

Clubs: Celtic (1975 to 1990).

Titles: Six (1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1988).

Feed The Bear. Roy Aitken was versatile and could play, and play well, in a variety of positions. But when Jock Stein recovered from the car crash which almost claimed his life and returned to manage Celtic in 1976 he fielded him as a holding midfielder. It suited the fast, physical and industrious youngster, and his team, perfectly. The Parkhead club duly won the Premier Division and Scottish Cup double. 

Spells as right back, left back, centre half and sweeper followed. But Billy McNeill, who succeeded Stein in 1978, was also rewarded for deploying Aitken in central midfield. His side won the league in his debut season after beating Rangers in a thrilling final day title decider. 

The man from Ardrossan was never the most elegant footballer. But he brought boundless energy and unquenchable enthusiasm to a team and lifted those around him. As one former team mate remarked “a side with Roy Aitken in it was better than a side without Roy Aitken in it”. He spent 15 years in the Celtic first team, won trophies aplenty, picked up 56 caps for Scotland and played at two World Cups.   

Craig Brown worked with him at Mexico ’86 and Italia ’90. “What a great attitude Roy had!” he said. “He was so responsive and so willing. Anything you asked him to do he did. He was always desperate to help the team.” 

4

Name: John Greig.

Clubs: Rangers (1961 to 1978)

Titles: Two (1976 and 1978)

The man who was crowned The Greatest Ever Ranger by supporters in 1999 only played for three seasons in the Premier Division before hanging up his boots aged 35 and taking over from Jock Wallace as manager. If he had featured for longer he would have been a strong contender, an automatic selection even, for a place in the Greatest Premier XI starting line-up.

But he still helped the Ibrox club win two titles between 1975 and 1978. In the 1975/76 season he was the only Rangers player to appear in every league match, helped the Govan outfit win the domestic treble and was named SFWA Footballer of the Year for a second time. In the 1977/78 campaign, he led them to a second clean sweep of domestic trophies once again. He bowed out in some style.

The Edinburgh-born Scotland internationalist started his career up front, moved back into midfield and was then deployed in defence. As one former team mate stated “John would have played in goals if he had been asked to”. But many knowledgeable judges feel he was at his very best in the defensive midfielder role, where he could dictate play and defuse opposition attacks.

He was certainly immense there in the first leg of the European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final against the mighty Bayern Munich in Germany in 1972. Der McKaiser. 

3

Name: Neil Lennon.

Clubs: Celtic (2000 to 2007).

Titles: Five (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007).

The Northern Irishman is one of the most divisive characters in Scottish football history. But what a fine footballer he was shouldn’t be forgotten. A £5.75m signing from Leicester City in 2000, he was integral to the success that Martin O’Neill’s side and then Gordon Strachan’s team enjoyed. He helped his boyhood heroes complete a domestic treble in 2001, reach the UEFA Cup final in 2003 and win back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

His lack of success in front of goal – he scored three times in seven years – became something of a standing joke. But Lennon did the unglamorous work that often went unnoticed and provided a platform for others to play on. He broke down attacks, won possession and distributed the ball. He was aggressive, combative, fearless and possessed an incredible will to win.  

Lennon’s team mates, the likes of John Hartson, Henrik Larsson, Stiliyan Petrov and Chris Sutton, were perhaps more celebrated. But where would they have been without him? 

2

Name: Paul Lambert.

Clubs: St Mirren (1986 to 1993), Motherwell (1993 to 1996) and Celtic (1997 to 2005).

Titles: Four (1998, 2001, 2002 and 2004).

Anyone who can nullify the threat posed by Zinedine Zidane in a Champions League final must be a bit of a player. Paul Lambert, after years spent at St Mirren and Motherwell, did that in 1997 when Borussia Dortmund defeated Juventus. He became the first British footballer to lift the European Cup with a foreign team in the process.

Lambert was converted from a box-to-box midfielder into a holding midfielder by Ottmar Hitzfeld at Dortmund. He excelled there and Paulo Souza and Andreas Moller ahead of him both benefited from his presence.

Celtic, who he joined in a £2m transfer later that year, certainly did too. Lambert’s arrival proved the catalyst for the Parkhead club to win their first league in 10 years and prevent Rangers completing 10-In-A-Row. His time in Germany had made him a class, arguably a world-class, performer. He gave the Glasgow club a vital cutting edge.

Two seasons of disappointment under Jo Venglos, John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish followed. But he was, like so many, galvanised by the arrival of Martin O’Neill in 2000. The Scotland internationalist won a further seven trophies in the following five years and was the captain in the UEFA Cup final in Seville in 2003.

1

Name: Scott Brown.

Clubs: Hibernian (2002 to 2007), Celtic (2007 to present day).

Titles: Ten (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).

This will be, for some, a controversial selection. The boy from Hill of Beath would not profess to be anywhere near as technically gifted as many of those in contention for a starting spot. But he is a far better player than his many critics give him credit for. And he is one of the most decorated players in the history of the Scottish game. Last month’s Premiership win took his haul of medals to 22.

His detractors say his passing is poor, he lacks discipline and doesn’t score enough goals. But he has a multitude of strengths. He reads the game brilliantly, has a remarkable engine and leads by example. He has, too, an antagonistic streak in him and is loathed by opposition supporters. But they would, as the old saying goes, love it if he played for their team.   

The £4.4m fee that Celtic paid Hibs for him in 2007 was a record between two Scottish clubs and raised eyebrows at the time. But it has proved to be money very well spent. He has been a constant during their nine consecutive title wins and three straight trebles. “I worked with Paul McStay who was a classy player, but Scott Brown is an absolute inspiration,” said Craig Brown.

Billy McNeill is and always will be Celtic’s greatest ever captain. Scott Brown is not far behind.

UNLUCKY TO MISS OUT: Steven Davis, Roy Keane, Graeme Souness, Murdo MacLeod, Ray Wilkins, Rino Gattuso.

TEAM SO FAR:

1 - Andy Goram (goalkeeper).
2 - Danny McGrain (right back).
3 – Maurice Malpas (left back).
4 – Alex McLeish (centre back).
5 – Willie Miller (centre back).
6 – Scott Brown (defensive midfielder). 
7 - TBC  (right winger).
8 - TBC (attacking midfielder).
9 - TBC (centre forward).
10 - TBC (striker).
11 - TBC (left winger).

ON MONDAY: Attacking midfielder.