Celtic and Brendan Rodgers have had to put up with a media narrative that was created about the team ever since Philippe Clement’s Rangers closed the gap at the top of the table.
Poor form around December time saw Celtic lose 2-1 at Kilmarnock and 2-0 to Hearts the following week.
Those results compounded dropped points against Motherwell, Hibs and St Johnstone which made former Celtic hero, Chris Sutton, aim some criticism at his former team and Brendan Rodgers.
At the time, Sutton said it looked like Rodgers was ‘going through the motions‘ since he came back to Celtic and the Hoops boss directly responded to that after Celtic’s win over Rangers on Saturday.
Rodgers said that the comments made him feel like he was ‘treated like a novice’ and fired back at Sutton’s criticism now that the league title is all but over.
Sutton ‘surprised’ by Celtic boss’ comments
Replying to that response today, whilst Sutton admits he was surprised to hear that from Rodgers, the former Celtic hero explained exactly he made those comments when he did.
Sutton said [It’s all Kicking Off], “Well, I don’t think it’s come back to bite me on the backside at all. I’m a little bit surprised but I don’t know what people expect.
“I was talking about the Celtic team around Christmas time. I think that he just lost at home to Hearts, they’ve been beaten by Kilmarnock and they were out of the Champions League.
“Celtic didn’t perform in the Champions League. They had drop points against the likes of St Johnstone and Motherwell.
“Santa got booed around that time at Celtic Park when he was paraded out on the pitch. Santa got booed by the Celtic support as the natives were restless.
“I think my comment wasn’t unreasonable. I don’t think I was questioning Brendan’s commitment. And I think he has every right to respond.
“Of course it does, but I wasn’t questioning his commitment but the team were playing like they were going through the motions and that’s what it was.
“I mean, I criticise teams and players and managers when I think it’s merited and then give praise.
“That’s what doing my job is about, isn’t it?”
Rodgers picked the right moment to respond to his critics and whilst Sutton is generally a defender of the club from criticism from those outside Scotland, his criticism is generally fair and balanced.
However, I think suggesting that Rodgers wasn’t fully focused may well have been a step too far and, ultimately, the Celtic boss beating our rivals to take us within millimetres of another title win was the perfect way to respond.
I, for one, wouldn’t want Sutton to change how he analyses Celtic. It’s refreshing to have someone who cares about the club be critical when it is needed.
After all, we wouldn’t want him to be a cheerleader like some are in the game. Sutton is a huge advocate for Scottish football and Celtic.
And whilst his criticism can sometimes sting, I wouldn’t want it any other way.
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