The Celtic supporters have seen a variety of different players and managers who have graced the Parkhead corridors over the decades.
From the supremely talented and gifted to the complete failures, we have seen it all. But Chris Sutton has probably seen more than we can all remember. He has had a long and varied career in England and up in Scotland with Celtic.
And don’t forget, he shared a dressing room with the likes of Henrik Larsson, John Hartson and Alan Thompson. All brilliant characters and all superb footballers.
But when he was asked who the biggest moaner he had encountered over his career as a footballer, Sutton revealed that England legend, Alan Shearer, was one of them alongside one other Celtic hero.
Sutton said [It’s All Kicking Off podcast], “Neil Lennon, though, he used to moan at himself in fairness, but he used to moan at everybody else. Sort of a blame culture, I think, blame everybody else other than yourself.”
Sutton was asked if that affected the Celtic dressing room Sutton said, ”No, I just think it’s an individual thing isn’t it? Everybody has their own different traits.
“Neil Lennon used to pass the ball around my neck sometimes and then shout “Get hold of it!” and eventually the third time I’d tell him what I thought. I was mild-mannered to a point.”
Neil Lennon was supremely successful at Celtic, for a moaner
Lennon was a mercurial moaner at Celtic. Always biting, always correcting but in fairness to him, it was very successful. The former Hoops midfielder was a winner and he proved it as a player and at management level at Celtic.
As a player, Lennon was part of the Celtic side that won the club’s first treble since the Jock Stein era under Martin O’Neill. He eventually went on to win five league titles, four Scottish Cups and two league cups as a player and into a European final.
As a manager, he started Celtic’s run to our second nine in a row. Overall he won another five league titles, four Scottish Cups and one league cup. He is the only person in the clubs history to have won a treble as a player and manager and he also got us into the last 16 of the Champions League.
Of course, Sutton recalled the memory with amusing affection but if Lennon was the biggest moaner, I would take that all day long from any manager if it guaranteed Celtic continued success.
In other news, John Hartson believes coming to Celtic would be ‘a very wise move’ for Premier League player
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