‘I’d be devastated’ – Sutton Believes Lennon’s Decision Would Have Upset Celtic Star

Picking over the wreckage of Celtic’s failed Champions League bid is still in full swing with former players and pundits having their say on what went wrong against Cluj.

There was no room for the old pal’s act with Chris Sutton this week after he picked over the bones of his mate and former team-mate Neil Lennon’s decisions.

The BT Pundit and BBC Radio personality can’t get past the Celtic manager’s decision to play Callum McGregor at left-back and continue to do so throughout the game.

The Englishman also is at a loss why John Kennedy wasn’t telling Neil about the Ibrox debacle when Brendan Rodgers took Callum McGregor out of midfield and stuck him at left-back. The only thing when Rodgers did it, there was an injury crisis at the club with very little options available to him.

There was a ready-made left-back signed this summer who had a rough time of it over the last two games but probably needed to start to get some confidence. Instead, Neil wanted to facilitate Ntcham and have as many technical players on the field as possible.

Sutton believes the decision ruined the balance, John Kennedy should have warned Neil and Callum McGregor would have been devastated to learn where he was playing on the night.

“It ruined the balance of the team and seemed to mess with their heads. The rest of the players weren’t at it at all, as if bewildered as to why the manager would take their best midfielder out of the engine room and stick him at full-back.” Sutton explained to RecordSport.

“Lennon couldn’t understand why his team was so poor and passive during the first half against Cluj. I might be wrong but I can’t help thinking it was the same again. And John Kennedy should have been telling him this. He was standing beside Rodgers at Ibrox when it fell apart.

“If I was McGregor then I’d be devastated. This is a boy who was wanted by a top-half Premier League team because of his midfield talents and told he couldn’t leave because he was too important to Celtic.”