Brown played more than 400 times for Celtic in a spell that lasted almost 15 years and won a host of trophies with the Scottish club.
Upon his retirement from playing, his last club being Aberdeen, Brown joined Fleetwood as their new manager before the start of the current season.
Brown explained that if he had have stayed in Scotland to begin his management career, he would have been painted with the Celtic brush no matter what he did.
The Fleetwood boss clarified that while he loves Celtic, he needed to get away from Scotland to begin his managerial journey and the Cod Army provided him the best opportunity.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Brown said: “For me to stay in Scotland I am always going to get branded, whether I am at Celtic or not at Celtic, I am always going to be branded with the Celtic brush.
“Half of them will love you and half of them will hate you and that’s natural in Glasgow.
“Don’t take me wrong, I love Celtic to bits, but I needed to get out of Scotland and the best opportunity was for me to come here.”
The Celtic legend has Fleetwood eleventh in League One, after they narrowly avoided relegation last season, and also in the fifth round of the FA Cup, earning plaudits for the job done there so far.
