Gary Caldwell interview: Whisper it, but Brown isn't going anywhere

THOSE WILLING to take transfer gossip as gospel could convince themselves it will come to pass that a posse of Celtic players will go forth to the English Premier League. Scott Brown was this week linked with a £9m move to Portsmouth as the errant Aiden McGeady was yet again reported to be a £8m/£5m target for Newcastle/Sunderland (delete as appropriate).

Already this season, Gary Caldwell has been a "target" for Stoke
City, Scott McDonald is said to be interesting "a number of top flight sides south of the Border" while Artur Boruc is perennially claimed to be one goalkeeping change away from activating a £9m bid from one of English football's powerhouses.

As the disparity between the contracts offered to players in what Gordon Strachan calls a "fantasy world" and the real world in which he must operate has mushroomed, so Celtic's vulnerability to having their best players prised away has become impossible to gauge accurately. Not least when a further imponderable is how English Premier League clubs' desire to steel themselves against the possible effects of the economic downturn will impact on inducements offered to would-be acquisitions.

The attraction of shopping in a relatively inexpensive market could make Celtic a club with plunder potential. Against this, however, the top earners with the Scottish champions would not necessarily be dangled the carrot of a massive wage hike by mid-ranking Premier League teams. With his £25,000-a-week contract, Brown's current earnings are greater than Alan Hutton's following his £9m switch to Tottenham Hotspur a year ago.

Caldwell believes Brown's form this season suggests that he possesses all the attributes to succeed in England. The centre-back considers that fact an irrelevance, however. "He would be a natural for the Premier League but there is not much chance of him going," the 25-year-old offers in typically forthright fashion. "He is a natural for Celtic and he is going to be here for a long time."

Caldwell accepts that any team fattened by Sky's television cash probably believe they have the financial muscle to cherry-pick Celtic's prized playing assets. But he appears convinced they are mistaken.

"The manager, Peter (Lawwell, chief executive] and the club will do everything they can to keep all the players here," he says. "As they are all under contract, if anyone wants to take them they are going to have to offer a lot of money," he says. "It would be up to the club to then decide, but I'm sure all the players will remain at this club in January. It always seems a crazy month with everyone linked with everyone, but we just have to get on and get through it."

Brown, McGeady, McDonald and Boruc are all on lengthy deals and it is indeed Caldwell himself who would appear the most gettable property for any cross-Border coveters. Celtic recently activated a one-year contract option on their most improved and consistent performer this season. It ties him to the club until next summer as talks on a further extension have brought no sign of a resolution.

"There is nothing new on the contract at the minute," he says. "An offer was made at the start of the season and we have spoken since then. The ball's in their court. I still have a year-and-a-half to go and the club is well within their rights to wait and see what happens."

Caldwell doesn't give the impression that he would move simply for a fatter wage package. English suitors for Celtic players tend to be clubs with between 20,000 and 30,000 average gates whose priority is simply retaining their top-flight status. Even if any within the champions' squad were willing and able to move south, they would require to make a trade off, then. Essentially, that would amount to commanding greater personal riches in a much more glittering, illustrious environment for surrendering the intensity of playing for a huge institution with 52,000 season-ticket holder where the unchanging demands are to win weekly, and win well. Caldwell, who began his career with Newcastle, is not blind to the shortcomings of English football's land that's milked for money.

"The Premier League is great, a bigger and better league than ours. Obviously there are some great clubs, and that's the attraction," he says. "But overall, it can be made out to be something it isn't. There are bad teams, and bad games in it. The top four, or with Aston Villa this year the top five, are very good and streets ahead of the rest. But the Sky people hype it up to be bigger than it is."

For the last couple of Celtic players to have taken the plunge, it has been nothing more than a big disappointment. Shaun Maloney returned to Celtic after only 20 months on the fringes at Villa as a squad player. Kenny Miller couldn't wait to vacate Derby for Rangers after relegation followed him helping the team to the sum total of one win – his scoring debut – in his entire nine months at Pride Park.

"Celtic and Rangers are right up there with the biggest teams down south and with our players being linked to teams outside the top five they would have to consider whether it was a step down to go to one of the lower English Premier League clubs. I spoke to Kenny when he went down and he said he missed the pressure of having to win games.

"When we lose it can be like the whole world collapses. As a footballer that can be hard at times, but it also brings the best out in you. When something goes wrong you can really feel the pressure, but it does motivate you and it keeps you at your best to be challenging for championships. That is what we all want to do and we have all that here."

In somewhat contradictory fashion, Caldwell also acknowledges that there can come at time, just as he happened when Strachan came in for him at Hibernian, when a "challenge arises and you to take it on and go and prove yourself". The English Premier League would offer that seduction for all Celtic players. But, as long as that group continue to rack up titles and carve themselves deeper into the club's folklore, the courting of their present partner should sufficiently captivate for now.