Sutton Sends Realistic Warning To Celtic Hierarchy
Chris Sutton has sent a much needed warning to Peter Lawwell that its vital that Lennon gets the funds to strengthen his Celtic squad for the coming season as not doing so could ruin what could be one of the best in many years.
Celtic are about to embark on what could be one of their most successful and important seasons of the past nine years.
Lennon has the daunting task of completing the quadruple treble from last season and to top that off, Celtic will still have four competitions to compete in.
Make no mistake, Celtic winning their 10th domestic title in a row is the number one focused, but as fans we still want our club to win as many trophies as we possibly can, Lennon still has the cup from last season to bring home, and we also want to qualify for the Champions League.
With the squad that we have, Sutton thinks it will be near impossible to compete at a consistent high level in four or five different competitions as Peter Lawwell must back Lennon with the funds and players that the gaffer will need to have a very successful season.
We are not saying this squad isn’t capable of brining home number 10, they are but when you add a few key injuries over the season it could be disastrous for fans to witness, this is why we need depth but of quality rather than just getting players in.
Celtic have still to make any signings to add to the squad that won the title- over the last 12 months Scott Sinclair, Lewis Morgan, Jonny Hayes, Craig Gordon and Jozo Simunovic have moved on.
Mikey Johston and Leigh Griffiths are currently unavailable while there is regular speculation linking other clubs to Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer.
Big Sutton had this to say:
Are you telling me that Celtic have a squad depth strong enough to win another treble? I didn’t think so. Can Celtic do without Odsonne Edouard? When I played at Celtic, if (Henrik) Larsson was injured we’d have John Hartson or myself who could play that role.
I’m not saying we could replace Larsson, he used to bail us out all the time but you get my point, there isn’t a replacement for Odsonne Edouard. There isn’t a replacement for Christopher Jullien.
So if anything happens to these players – and injuries happen in football, we’re all aware of that – who’s going to fill the void? Who’s going to come in and step up and do a job which these players have done?
The manager will be sitting on the bench week in and week out with his fingers crossed praying that he doesn’t get injuries to key men.
We’ve spoken about the midfield area, that’s the only area where you could look at Celtic and say: ‘Do you know what? I think they’re alright there’.
Every other area on the pitch is a massive, massive concern for me. Neil’s not daft, Neil will be aware of that
Right-back might be OK because you’ve got Frimpong, you’ve got Elhamed, but you’re looking at the wide areas thinking James Forrest, who has been such a consistent performer, if he gets injured and is out for a while it’s not the same.
Neil will have to be so, so lucky in terms of his main men staying fit to win every trophy this season – at this moment in time. Everybody can see what needs to be done, they just need to do it.