Like the team he was watching Chris Sutton was a transformed man as he took in Celtic’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City last night.
Twelve months ago the former hoops striker was on edge, agitated and ready to argue with anyone as he watched Celtic sinking slowly under Ronny Deila.
Sitting alongside Richard Dunne in the BT Sport studio Sutton’s chest was out, shoulders back and a smile on his face as he watched a more recognisable form of his old club.
.@btsportfootball What a difference a year makes…. Celtic deserved to win… That’s progress
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) December 6, 2016
From defeat to Lincoln Red and humiliation in Barcelona Brendan Rodgers has taken Celtic a long way with largely the same group of players who had hobbled through a disastrous Europa League campaign 12 months ago.
On Friday night Sutton will be back in the saddle at Firhill for a slice of Glasgow derby action when Celtic meet Partick Thistle.
Under Rodgers however there are loftier ambitions with the big question over the next nine months being about how this Celtic side will fare in next season’s Champions League- after negotiating the qualifiers.
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