Soccer Football - Champions League - Group E - Celtic v Atletico Madrid - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - October 25, 2023 Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers look on REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Chris Sutton has offered a vague response to Ian Ladyman’s article questioning why Brendan Rodgers is spending what should be the best years of his career in Scottish football.
After managing Liverpool and Leicester it is very likely that the Irishman would be offered an EPL job at some stage this season while a move to Spain has always carried some appeal.
The silver lining to managing Celtic is the regular opportunity to play in the Champions League but recent results suggest that the gulf between the SPFL and Europe’s elite is getting bigger.
Ladyman wasn’t particularly scathing about Scottish football, his basic argument would strike a chord with many Celtic fans in that it looks like a massive ask to get the hoops competitive again in Europe after a decade long decline.
Responding on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast, Sutton said:
I think you’re an excellent journalist but you’ve got this badly wrong. It’s a really stupid argument here. Where do you want to go with this? Manchester City have won the Premier League for five out of the last six seasons.
In a week when Manchester United, who have spent over £400 million, lose to the minnows of Copenhagen, you chose not to mention that. Newcastle United have spent a fortune and are bottom of their Champions League group, but you just went all in on Celtic and Scottish football.
Scottish football, in terms of attendances, is the best supported league in Europe. So you can have your opinion on the standard of football, but the biggest and best barometer is that Scottish people don’t care what you think because they go to the games week in, week out and they love their football.
It’s not always about the money. It’s about the product and supporters’ bums on seats, supporting their local teams.
Bizarrely Celtic can still qualify from their Champions League group but that is dependent on winning away to Lazio at the end of this month.
Realistically getting a win against Lazio or Feyenoord would be a step in the right direction, ending a six year run without a victory in the competition with four points a step in the right direction from last season.
In fairness (Madrid apart) – It has been the finest of margins that have cost us this season v Lazio and Madrid at Parkhead…
Our fringe players had a field day on Saturday and that’ll worry Sevco and the rest here in Scotland –
Ok qualifying for The Knockout Stages is looking forlorn but the importance of getting there is HUGE given the latest Sevco accounts…
An ‘operating profit’ of £252,000 will surely result in a substantial net loss YET AGAIN –
And that’s with Champions League groups and the (Media inflated) yet still crazy money paid for Bassey and Aribo…
Our board maybe (actually are) yellow and cowardly a helluva lot of the time but they know how to make a buck out two – Just not spending quite as much as I’d like – However…
January is the perfect time to rectify that and put the jackboot on the throat of Sevco (and thereby their acolytes in The Scottish Football Media and their acolytes of Cheats with whistles, flags and monitors as well) !
when lowball brought back lennon , and his failed signings to hijack the ten we can expect much the same this season , our players are assaulted without protection with sevco supporting referees placed in positions of huge influence on our games , and not a fuck!ng squeek from the celtic board , beaton has to go for starters !! thats a statement we must have from the celtic board
Lol at sevco with those figures but still all is rosy in the garden,director of football on the way supposedly by the end if the month,player trading heading in the right direction.
Now moving on the Tavpen situation I can guarantee you all before the season is finished that sevco will beat their own record of 4 penalties in one game,they will get 5 especially with the man in charge of VAR who gave the previous 4 will see to that.
I have said before, time to start looking into the board