Chris Sutton has accused Celtic of making the “stupid” decision to sell their top stars before their Champions League clash with LASK on Tuesday night.
The Hoops capitulated in Austria despite holding a 4-0 aggregate lead and were humiliated as their opponents roared back to win 5-4 after extra-time. It was a shambolic performance from the Scottish champions and led to serious questions being asked of both the squad depth and quality as well as its mentality on a night as big as this one.
It was the sixth qualifier Celts have played in a row where they have failed to make the League Phase of Europe’s elite competition and Sutton questioned the collapse and suggested that selling the likes of Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels before the “biggest games of the season” was inexplicable.
Taking to social media the former striker had his say. He posted: “People can say what they like about the collapse and I respect that but why sell your legs in midfield and weaken your team when the biggest games of the season are around the corner. Why sell Maeda?
“It’s just stupid… the justification is in the winning… Celtic lost…”
The former Celtic striker’s comments certainly struck a nerve with supporters who insisted their side should have had enough about them to see off LASK.
Their astonishing aggregate lead – after Callum McGregor had opened the scoring in Linz – was comfortable at the time before Moses Usor took advantage of a Benjamin Nygren mistake to nick a goal back before half-time.
People can say what they like about the collapse and I respect that but why sell your legs in midfield and weaken your team when the biggest games of the season are around the corner. Why sell Maeda? It’s just stupid… the justification is in the winning… Celtic lost…
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) August 25, 2026
Manager Martin O’Neill accepted the blame at full-time with some questionable substitutes made but at the heart of the matter was the squad’s lack of winning mentality as their opponents dominated for the vast majority of the action and turned the game on its head.
Sutton had also tweeted earlier in the evening: “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail,” with another nod towards a lack of forethought in the transfer market. But again, supporters blasted their team for selling the jerseys with several individual errors made on the night.
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