Martin O’Neill has decided he still has the appetite for the fight to remain Celtic manager, but Chris Sutton believes he should walk away. The former Hoops hero has expressed his views on his old boss and the predicament he finds himself in.
Sutton’s warning over Celtic’s problems
Sutton, who says he loves and respects his old Celtic boss, cannot see how the job can be worth the hassle given the many problems on and off the pitch. He questions what O’Neill can do next, describing it as having “two hands tied behind his back” while being in the firing line.
“If I were him and in my mid-seventies, I’d be sitting with the slippers on watching Columbo in the afternoons – not trying to sort out another Celtic mess,” Sutton wrote.
Squad and dressing room issues
Sutton dismissed claims that summer spending strengthened the squad, arguing the cash was spent to replace players who had left. He noted O’Neill said he needed physicality and did not get it, leaving a squad that looks ill-equipped for any formation.
He also highlighted dressing room dissent, with Cameron Carter-Vickers’ questioning of the coaching leading to O’Neill being “thrown under the bus.” Sutton said O’Neill needs Carter-Vickers because there are no viable replacements, and the issue must be sorted in-house.
Protest reaction and board hypocrisy
Sutton criticised the tennis ball protest at St Andrews, saying Dermot Desmond is entitled to his free time and private life and should not have been targeted on the golf course. He called the protest childish and counterproductive, but said the club’s reaction was “way over the top” and “riddled with rampant hypocrisy.”
He said Desmond has to accept accountability if he holds such power, and that his only public comments in recent years have been to lash out at detractors, which has been as damaging to Celtic’s reputation as any fan protest.
O’Neill caught in the middle
Sutton said O’Neill is stuck between Desmond and the board on one side and angry fans on the other. He will not criticise Desmond publicly, but backing him would rile fans and make him a shield for the board.
He noted O’Neill steadied the ship last season and won a title, but faces an even more desperate situation now. Celtic should cope domestically until January, when the squad must be sorted, but Sutton fears for them in Europe against Benfica and Celta Vigo.
“And that’s why I can’t help but feel Martin should have walked and left them all to it,” he concluded.
