Anyone who knows me will tell you that normally, I am a reasonable and
calm person; I like to think before reacting and don’t take my
football more seriously than a sport deserves. I support Rangers
but don’t really have a problem with any Celtic players; I admired
Larson immensely, have a lot of time for Hartson and can even cope with
Thompson. They caused me pain when they were instrumental in
Celtic victories over Rangers but that was part of the game.
There is, though, one Celtic player that makes me lose it, Chris
Sutton. Before he joined Celtic, I did not know a lot about him
as a player. If anything, I thought he was over-rated and that
Alan Shearer had carried him in his one outstanding season but other
than that he was a bit of a non-entity. How wrong I was. In
his first old-firm game he cemented his reputation as possibly being
unique in the Scottish game in my time watching it. Yes, Chris
Sutton is, without doubt, the un-fairest player I have ever seen.
Right from the start of that first old-firm game, when he immediately
scored an off-side goal, he demonstrated that he will go to any lengths
to get his own way. Every high ball, his arms are raised. He goes
down as if shot, at the slightest contact. Every challenge is
grounds for a complaint to the referee. Given an opportunity he
will try to hurt an opponent. If Celtic lose, it’s because the
other teams were not trying against Rangers. All round, apart
from having some ability to kick a ball, as a human being, he does not
seem to have any redeeming qualities. He is a thug, a cheat and a
coward. I don’t like him and I wonder what
Manchester United found to discourage them from signing him. Was he really given the all clear?
I was glad when Larson left. He was carrying Celtic and they were
always going to struggle when he left. Sutton is regarded very
highly amongst the more
unbalanced Celtic supporters but he has not offered anything to Celtic this season and many
Celtic fans will be glad to see the back of him as he
leaves for Birmingham. I will, too. Not for football reasons, though. I just want my sanity back.