CHRIS SUTTON You’re killing Lennon and your club
Football’s top columnist hits out against Celtic’s underperforming stars
CHRIS SUTTON reckons big-name Celtic stars such as Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer are wrecking their chances of major moves by failing to deliver when the chips are down.
The former Parkhead striker has been left aghast at the paucity of the performances this term.
Neil Lennon is fighting to save the season and his reign with the club in a poor run of form but Sutton believes there is a host of players doing him no favours by being badly out of form.
Ultimately, he accepts it is down to the manager to drag the best of his troops.
But Sutton reckons there are some not delivering for their gaffer and under-achieving in a big way. Major talents such as Edouard and Ajer have failed to hit the heights having attracted big-money interest from top- level Euro suitors during the last transfer window.
But Sutton says that a failure to deliver the goods when their manager needs them most will be noted by interested parties and may even make them think twice about making future moves.
He said: “I’m not one who likes to put the boot into players for lacking motivation, but do you know what? At this moment in time, you would have to question many in the team and ask the question – what has happened to them?
“Some of the players seem better characters than others from what I’ve seen.
“The manager has to motivate players but the players surely have to motivate themselves. There are a lot of good characters. The likes of Scott Brown. He’ll be hurting. Callum
McGregor the same. I always see Ryan Christie give a shift. Hatem Elhamed tries but I don’t think we are seeing it from everybody. If I was in the dressing room, I’d be pointing fingers.
“Edouard has a huge problem as he is so talented.
“He has built a reputation over the past couple of seasons where all of Europe’s big clubs would have been looking at him and watching him closely.
“The way he is playing at this moment in time, he’s doing himself a great deal of harm.
“Now everybody goes through peaks and troughs and I understand that. But this is pretty alarming.
“We are seeing glimpses but he’s not doing enough.
“I don’t know if he wants a move away or not but he’s playing as if he doesn’t want to be there. Although you could level that at others.
“If he wants to get his big move, he needs to start performing in a Celtic jersey. If he wants to get his career back on track, he needs to start livening up.
“If you watched Edouard the last couple of seasons, there are so many boxes you’d tick.
“But there is a situation now where people are maybe now going to look at him and question his attitude.
“It’s unfair to single Edouard out. Is it happening with Ajer? Linked with AC Milan with a £30million fee? They wouldn’t be in double figures with performances this season.
“Edouard was linked with a lot of top clubs in England. Who would take him on the form he’s on this season?
“Ajer has always had work to do. He’s a talented player but he’s not a top European defender at this time. At this moment in time, he’s not a top defender in Scotland.
“If you want your move away, the best way is performing on the pitch. Showing the right intensity and attitude week in and out.
“Do I feel that’s happening? No. In the history of football there’s always players who don’t want to play for clubs, but they still give it their all while they are. “The smart play if you are Edouard or Ajer is play so wel l. Nine out of 10 every week. B e outstanding and big clubs will come in.
“Look at Kieran Tierney? I never saw him down tools. We all understand the big players at Celtic do move on but, at this moment in time, you can’t tell me if you are a big European club and you are looking at Edouard or Ajer you’d splash the cash on them.”
Sutton was left alarmed at the dismal display against Ross County at the weekend which came hard on the heels of the pasting in Prague.
Speaking to the Record Celtic Podcast, he said: “This is a terrible run. If you are in the dressing room at this moment, I would like to think they would be really hurting.
“They killed the manager with that performance against Ross County. They were spanked by a very average Czech team and I wouldn’t have slept much after that.
“By the time County came around, I’d have been so motivated. The dressing room I would have been in, there’s no way there would have been such a feeble performance.
“Had Celtic had 40 shots on target, you’d accept that. But because it was so lacklustre and lethargic, that’s why something has to change.
“It’s always a manager who changes but if they could sack the players, they could sack nearly every one of them. “There’s been a malaise and a cloud over the p lay ing p er s onn el . Celtic have enough in that squad to perform far better. The players have to accept a lot of responsibility.”