Chris Sutton brands Celtic ‘flat-track bullies’ after Ibrox humiliation | OneFootball

Chris Sutton has branded Celtic “flat-track bullies” after Martin O’Neill’s side were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Rangers at Ibrox.

The Hoops crashed out of the Premier Sports Cup after Dan Neil struck twice either side of a Kevin Kelsy goal, with Sutton believing Celtic were bullied across the pitch.

It was another damaging result in a major fixture after Celtic’s Champions League qualifying collapse against LASK earlier this season, and Sutton believes their midfield remains a significant weakness.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Sutton said: “If you look at Celtic’s results this season, I’m not knocking them, but there is a strong argument to say that Celtic are flat-track bullies.

“That’s what they have been this season. In the games where they’ve come up against a level of opposition who are just a little bit better, a little bit stronger, they have been found wanting.

“After selling Arne Engles, Celtic had a fundamental problem in the middle of the park. I get a lot of things wrong, but I’m not wrong on this one. Celtic’s midfield is lightweight, it is a midfield full of five-a-side players, they can’t cover the ground and they were bullied.

“I thought Celtic handed Rangers the initiative from the start and this is a Rangers team who, let’s get it right, have struggled this season.

“Fair play to Derek McInnes for changing things up. He probably had a fair idea that that Celtic midfield were there for the bullying. Things won’t change.

“Don’t take my word. You’ve got the Celtic manager who’s turned round after they sold Engels and said: Well, we need to replace a player with that profile, with the same dynamics. Have Celtic done that?

“And, at risk of repeating myself, if they weren’t going to replace Engels, they were happy to take the money. Madness, selling him when they did.

“Celtic were found out in that department. Then you think: Well what’s going to change now from now to the weekend? Do Celtic have a player who can go in there and stiffen that midfield up?

“After we’d beaten Rangers 6-2 [in 2000], we went to Ibrox in November, we lost 5-1. A player who was absent, who wasn’t at the club that particular day, was Neil Lennon.

“Celtic then went and signed Neil Lennon to stiffen up that midfield. That’s a robust number six player and we went on to win the league comfortably from there. But Celtic should have done that business.

“This is once again a case of Celtic playing catch-up when they shouldn’t. And who’s to blame for that?

“If you don’t have the personnel and you have the manager saying: Well, we need to replace him and you don’t replace him, that has to be a problem.

“And Celtic now, they certainly have a problem until January because I think teams can really, really hurt Celtic in the middle of the pitch.

“It wasn’t just against Rangers. it wasn’t just against LASK where Celtic have had this problem, but the fact that they’ve found a way to win.

“The big test came at the weekend against a Rangers team who would have been going into the game with plenty of fear and Celtic have given them a massive leg up.”

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