Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass believes incoming player-coach Scott Brown will play a huge role on and off the pitch at Pittodrie.
The former Celtic captain will join the Dons on a two-year deal this summer and Glass has backed his former Hibernian team-mate to be a hugely influential figure at the club.
He said: “Scott will come in – on the pitch he will certainly help the midfield players, but his mentality will help the entire group.
“His persona will help the entire club. It is important that outsiders are not pigeonholing him into something that he is not.
“Scott is going to be a very good coach. He is probably a good coach already, I need to see it first-hand, but I know what we are getting.”
Brown will be 36 next month but Glass has no qualms about the veteran’s ability to balance his new coaching duties with his playing role at Pittodrie.
Glass believes Brown’s leadership qualities on the pitch throughout his career at Celtic Park ensure the move to coaching will be an easy one for him to make and he is looking forward to seeing the midfielder make a contribution in both his playing and coaching roles at the club.
He said: “If people are not in the spotlight coaching people think they are not coaching.
“That has almost happened with myself a wee bit. Scott has maybe concentrated more on the football side now because he know what’s coming.
“As you get further on in your career you have to focus on the playing side but he has been coaching as a player since his mid-twenties as he is that type of player.
“I know from having that similar mentality as a player. It is something that comes from within, that desire to help drive people on and he definitely has that. It comes naturally for him.
“The other side is the learning part and he knows he will be involved in all the decision-making processes we go through at the club.
“He can still help on the pitch which is really big for us and as I’ve said he is a natural leader. He will continue to do that but if there is any time that he is not playing he will be alongside us.”
Brown will officially become an Aberdeen player next month and Glass is keen to get his new recruit involved as soon as possible.
He said: “I think early June is his date for the start of his contract. He will be with the group from mid to late June when we come back for pre-season training.”