Chris Sutton recalls ‘pain in the neck’ England arrogance towards Celtic form

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Chris Sutton was undoubtedly one of Celtic best strikers from the turn of this century.

His partnership with Henrik Larsson and then the introduction of John Hartson helped Celtic dominate Scottish football and become feared across Europe again.

In his Celtic career, Chris Sutton won four league titles, three Scottish Cups and one League Cup and helped take the Bhoys to the UEFA Cup final in 2003 which was Celtic’s first European final for the first time since 1970.

However, despite all of his achievements, the former Celtic hero was continually overlooked by the England national team and earned just one solitary England cap during his 21-year career.

Chris Sutton feels no resentment over England snubs whilst at Celtic

Speaking to Ian Ladyman about the upcoming international break, Sutton was asked if he ever felt resentment at Celtic as he watched his teammates head off on international duty.

Sutton told It’s All Kicking Off, “No. I didn’t really overthink it, I used to quite enjoy the break, I think. But it was only when a team was getting a bit of rhythm and momentum and the international weeks came along that I can remember a couple of times just thinking, this is a bit of a pain in the neck, but it is what it is.

“I used to quite enjoy being able to rest up. You look at Callum McGregor north of the border, he’s retired from international football, Scotland could do with him in the team.”

Sutton was not just deadly in front of goal, he also bullied defences to create space for his Celtic teammates to get on the scoresheet.

He was a great all-round striker.

Five Celtic performances that should have earned Chris Sutton more England caps

Sutton’s only cap for England came whilst he was Blackburn Rovers where he got a 12-minute cameo in a 2-0 win over Cameroon.

However, there is no doubt he should have been called up more for England so here are the games where he performed at the highest level for Celtic that should have earned the big Englishman more attention from his national side.

• Celtic 4 v 3 Juventus: Sutton scores two goals in the Champions League against a side with Alessandro Del Pierro, Alessio Tachinnardi and Pavel Nedved

• Celtic 2 v 0 Lyon: Sutton was on the scoresheet again as Celtic recorded a win over the French champions who had legends like Patrick Muller, Gregory Coupet and Mahamadou Diarra.
• Blackburn 0 v 2 Celtic: Returning to his old club Sutton scored one and created one as he put Graeme Souness’ ‘men against boys’ Celtic comment to bed.
• Celtic 6 v 2 Rangers: The Demolition Derby where Sutton scored a double and the fastest goal ever against Rangers in his derby debut.
• Ajax 1 v 3 Celtic: Sutton scored in an incredible away win where Celtic played the Dutch masters off the park to reach the Champions League group stages for the first time in their history.

Does Sutton have the right to feel aggrieved at not earning more caps for England whilst at Celtic? He may feel it but many Hoops supporters wouldn’t blame him if he did.