Brown questions UEFA system

Scott Brown believes it is time UEFA started rewarding Celtic for their performances on the continent - rather than punishing the Hoops for Scotland's European failures.

The Parkhead skipper is frustrated by the governing body's coefficient system which ranks the Scottish Premiership 23rd from Europe's 54 top-flight leagues.

As a consequence, Ronny Deila's champions now have to battle through three qualifying rounds just to reach the cash-rich group stages of the Champions League - and they will not have the safety net of a Europa League place to fall back on until the third of those ties.

Icelandic minnows Stjarnan will provide the first hurdle to be overcome when they travel to Glasgow on July 15 for the second qualifying round first leg.

While Celtic have stormed to the last 16 of the Champions League and the Europa League round of 32 in recent seasons, the under-performance of the rest of Scotland's European entrants has weighed down the Parkhead gains.

Now Brown says it is time UEFA throw out the current system which persistently hinders large clubs based in weaker nations and replace it with a new formula which recognises the efforts of individual teams.

Asked if he was irritated at having to play so many games just to qualify, Brown said: "Yeah but we have to do what we have to do to get into the group stages.

"It's always hard having just the two weeks off when you are the champions.

But it's different up here. People don't appreciate us as much as they should.

"When we play in the Champions League, whether it's home or away, we always give it a right good go. We've done well in the past and hopefully we will do the same this season.

"It might happen in the future that your coefficient is worked out on what each club does rather than all the teams from your league.

"But the way it is now we need to deal with the three qualifiers that are coming towards us. We have to try and get through them and do as well as we possibly can.''

Brown was back at Lennoxtown on Monday to start pre-season training just two weeks after helping Scotland claim a vital Euro 2016 qualifying point away to Ireland.

He was given some additional time off by Deila but the midfielder has still barely had time to catch breath in the five weeks since he lifted the Scottish Premiership trophy for the fourth year in a row.

But the 30-year-old is not worried about running out of steam in the season ahead.

"I had a two-week holiday and I also had a week off before meeting up with Scotland so I've definitely had enough time to recharge the batteries,'' he said.

"I think that's just modern Scottish football. Due to the number of qualifiers for the Champions League that's what it's going to be like.

"I don't worry about anything like burnout. It's just something you put in people's heads, but it's an excuse to be perfectly honest.

"The lads work hard and want to play week in, week out. We played 55 games last season with the same holiday break we're getting this time. I'm sure we can do just as well this season.''

Reports at the weekend suggest the Scottish Professional Football League is considering the re-introduction of a winter break.

With another lengthy campaign potentially in front of him, Brown can only see the positives of the idea.

He said: "I think it would be good, especially for the pitches up here. We don't get the best weather as everybody knows. So a two or three-week break for the pitches would be fantastic.''

Before facing Stjarnan, Celtic will hope to get themselves up to speed with three friendly clashes against Dutch outfit Den Bosch - which takes place on Wednesday - Czechs Dukla Prague and Spanish side Real Sociedad at St Mirren Park.

"These friendlies are going to benefit us a lot,'' explained Brown. "The first Champions League qualifiers are always hard because they are six or seven weeks ahead of us in their league, so we are always playing catch-up.

"But hopefully our quality shines through.''