Aberdeen's carefully worded statement stopped just short of saying that Scott Brown ’s playing days are officially over.
But even if the 36-year-old is not yet ready to confirm his boots are being hung up for good, deep down he knows that he’s finally reached the end of the road.
The shaven headed war dog of Celtic ’s historic run to nine successive top flight titles didn’t envisage it would end this way when he swapped Parkhead for a long goodbye at Pittodrie.