Chris Sutton Is Saying What Celtic Supporters Are Thinking – And The Board Won’t Like It

Chris Sutton was one of my favourite Celtic players.

Part of that was obviously down to what he did on the pitch, but I always loved the football intelligence he possessed.

Sutton understood the game.

He could score goals, create them, bully defenders, drop deeper, link the play and, when required, Martin O’Neill could even stick him at the back.

There was a proper football brain there.

More than 20 years after his Celtic career ended, I think he has taken a lot of that intelligence into his work in the media.

That is why I pay attention when Chris Sutton talks about Celtic.

You don’t necessarily have to agree with everything he says. I certainly don’t.

But one thing I’ve always respected about Sutton is that he will tell you what he thinks regardless of how popular that opinion might be.

His latest comments on Celtic are a perfect example.

Andrew Milne of Celtic Fanzine interviewed Sutton during the international break and revealed that the former Celtic striker believes the players certainly have questions to answer.

Crucially, though, Sutton believes the bigger problem lies with the people running Celtic.

He has also questioned the club’s recruitment structure and the continued failures across recent transfer windows.

And this is exactly why Sutton’s opinion carries weight with me.

Sutton Doesn’t Need Celtic’s Approval.

There will be people who dismiss Chris Sutton as clickbait.

I’ve never really seen him that way.

Is he provocative? Absolutely.

Does he know how the media works? Of course he does. He’s been doing it for long enough.

But there’s a difference between manufacturing an opinion because you know it’ll generate attention and genuinely holding strong opinions that happen to generate attention.

For me, Sutton falls into the latter category.

He says what he means and means what he says.

Anyone who does that gets a tick in my book.

Sutton isn’t sitting there wondering whether his latest opinion is going to go down well inside Celtic Park.

He’s not tailoring his views to suit the club’s narrative, and he doesn’t suddenly soften his criticism because the people making the decisions might not appreciate hearing it.

It’s my understanding that Sutton isn’t exactly flavour of the month inside Celtic Park.

If that’s the case, I’m hardly surprised.

When someone with Sutton’s platform is prepared to challenge the narrative coming from Celtic, question the decisions being made and openly criticise the people making them, they’re probably not going to be at the top of everyone’s Christmas card list.

That’s exactly why his independence matters.

The Recruitment Questions Aren’t Going Away.

Sutton questioning Celtic’s recruitment structure isn’t exactly coming from nowhere.

How could it?

We have spent months discussing recruitment, squad planning and the repeated failure to properly prepare Celtic for the challenges that were coming.

Different managers have come and gone.

Different transfer windows have opened and closed.

Yet we continue finding ourselves asking many of the same questions.

Why does a club with Celtic’s resources continue entering crucial European qualifiers with obvious gaps in the squad?

Who is in charge of recruitment and who is conducting the negotiations?

This season we have taken it to a whole new level of course – who is picking the team!

Why does the same conversation seem to return every few months, and certainly at the end of evey window?

Sutton clearly sees the bigger picture.

The players cannot simply escape criticism because supporters are unhappy with the board.

We’ve just watched Celtic lose three consecutive matches and produce performances which were nowhere near the required standard.

There are international footballers throughout this squad.

They need to perform.

Martin O’Neill and his coaching staff need to find a system which gets considerably more from them.

Nobody gets a free pass.

But acknowledging that does not mean we suddenly stop looking upwards.

This Is Bigger Than Three Bad Results.

That’s the important distinction.

Celtic’s problems did not magically begin when the team started losing football matches.

Recent results have simply brought longstanding concerns roaring back to the surface.

Supporters have been questioning recruitment for years. They’ve questioned the structure of the club, the lack of communication, the repeated European failures and whether Celtic are actually maximising the enormous advantages they possess domestically.

Those questions don’t disappear because the manager changes.

They certainly don’t disappear because the board would rather supporters concentrated solely on what happens on the pitch.

Sutton is only saying what a huge number of Celtic supporters are already thinking.

Yes, the players need to look at themselves.

And yes, performances have been unacceptable.

But if we’re seriously trying to understand why Celtic repeatedly arrive back at this point, eventually you have to look beyond whichever manager or group of players happens to be standing in the firing line.

You have to examine the structure above them.

Celtic Need To Answer The Bigger Questions

That’s where Sutton’s comments hit home.

It’s easy to analyse a defeat.

You can discuss formations, substitutions, individual performances and missed chances until you’re blue in the face.

The much harder conversation concerns why Celtic continue finding themselves in these situations in the first place.

Recruitment isn’t some side issue.

It’s one of the most important functions at any football club.

Get it right and you give your manager the tools required to succeed.

Get it wrong repeatedly and eventually the consequences appear on the football pitch.

We’ve seen enough evidence now to know that supporters aren’t simply reacting emotionally to one bad week.

The frustration has been building.

European failure has contributed to it.

Transfer-window disappointment has contributed to it.

Poor communication has contributed to it.

The feeling that Celtic should be achieving considerably more with the resources available has contributed to it.

Now we’re watching the football deteriorate as well.

That’s why Chris Sutton questioning the people running Celtic matters.

Sutton Is Speaking For A Lot Of Celtic Supporters

Sutton doesn’t need to protect his relationship with Celtic.

He doesn’t need access badly enough to dilute what he thinks.

And whether Celtic’s hierarchy appreciates his criticism or not shouldn’t matter.

I’d much rather listen to someone give an opinion they genuinely believe than hear another carefully sanitised assessment designed to offend absolutely nobody.

That’s always been one of Sutton’s strengths.

He was uncompromising as a footballer and he’s carried some of that personality into broadcasting.

Sometimes he’ll get it wrong.

Sometimes supporters will completely disagree with him.

That’s fine.

The important thing is that you know the opinion belongs to Chris Sutton.

Right now, his concerns over the Celtic board and the club’s recruitment structure don’t sound remotely controversial to me.

They sound familiar.

Because Sutton is essentially voicing the same concerns we’ve heard from Celtic supporters for months.

Players must take responsibility for their performances.

The manager and coaching staff must get more from this squad.

But above all of that sits a football club whose decision-makers are responsible for giving those people the best possible opportunity to succeed.

That’s where the biggest questions remain.

Chris Sutton is asking them.

So are the Celtic support.

Eventually, the people running Celtic are going to have to start providing some answers.

Keep Your Eyes On The Board.