Chris Sutton has turned the clock back 12 months to highlight Brendan Rodgers achievements in clinching the title with eight matches left to play.
In some areas there has been only grudging approval of Celtic’s title triumph with claims that the hoops success was inevitable.
Last April Celtic were in crisis, on the brink of collapse as the inevitable ‘return of the Rangers’ was about to expose a club that had been in reverse gear since the liquidation of their city rivals.
The momentum had switched to Ibrox with #goingfor55 launched on a wave of enthusiasm under a former city trader whose followers saluted his magic hat.
Sutton saw the situation first hand and won’t entertain any attempt to play down Celtic’s title winning achievement.
“They wrapped up the title at Tynecastle on Sunday but the big statistic that jumped out to me was the fact they hit the 86 points mark – the same they managed for the entire campaign last year,” the former Celtic striker highlighted in the Daily Record.
“To do it with eight games to go is a massive achievement and no one should understate what Rodgers has done at Celtic.
“Those who are saying it wasn’t a race have short memories. Cast your mind back to Hampden last April when Rangers won the Scottish Cup semi-final.
“All the talk was about the gap being cut, the Ibrox side were ‘going for 55’, Aberdeen were expected to be strong again.
“Most would have tipped Celtic for the title – but no one thought they would do it in such style.
Sutton added: “It’s not easy to win titles. It’s certainly not easy to do so in such style when you inherit a mess.
“That’s what Rodgers walked in to last summer and the transformation has been incredible. Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell deserve credit for going out and getting a top drawer manager and giving him full control of the club.
“It’s paid off and then some. Celtic have been at another level and that’s been down to the manager.”
MY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair and Stuart Armstrong are strong candidates for Player of the Year but Sutton looked elsewhere for his vote.
“I love a good comeback tale and Brown has been the story of the season for me,” he explained. “Think back to that Old Firm semi-final and everyone had written him off.
“He was over the hill, finished, Andy Halliday had him in his back pocket, apparently.
“Brown shut up his critics by being the driving force for this side this season. Sinclair, Dembele and Armstrong will get a lot of the plaudits, and understandably so, but for me the skipper has been the main man.”