Chris Sutton Is Not Holding Back In Defending Scottish Football. He’S Fired Up And Ready To Take On Anyone Who Dares To Put Down The Game North Of The Border. In A Recent Podcast, Sutton Went Head-To-Head With His Co-Host Ian Ladyman, Calling Out His ‘Elitist’ And ‘Patronising’ Attitude Towards Scottish Football.
The Whole Thing Kicked Off After Ladyman Wrote A Column In The Daily Mail, Questioning Brendan Rodgers’ Decision To Return To Celtic. Ladyman Couldn’T Wrap His Head Around Why Rodgers Would Come Back When He Could Only Match His Previous Achievements Before Leaving For Leicester City. This Column Came Right After Celtic’S 6-0 Defeat To Atletico Madrid, Which Pretty Much Dashed Their Hopes Of Making It Out Of The Champions League Group Stage.
Sutton Wasn’T Having Any Of It. He Took Ladyman To Task On Their Podcast, Accusing Him Of Looking Down On Scottish Football Fans. Ladyman Had Suggested That Celtic Were Too Good For Scottish Football But Couldn’T Perform On The Big Stage Because They Were Way Ahead Of The Rest Of The Premiership. Sutton Wasn’T Having Any Of That And Pointed Out That Celtic’S Dominance In The English Premier League Is Pretty Similar, With Five Out Of The Last Six Years Ending In Their Victory.
Sutton Didn’T Hold Back, Telling Ladyman, “I Think You’Re An Excellent Journalist But You’Ve Got This Badly Wrong. It’S A Really Stupid Argument Here. Where Do You Want To Go With This? Manchester City Have Won The Premier League For Five Out Of The Last Six Seasons. It Was Interesting In A European Week That You Chose To Have A Pop At Celtic. I Saw Your Article And It Was A Pop At Celtic And A Pop At Scottish Football. In A Week When Manchester United, Who Have Spent Over £400million, Lose To The Minnows Of Copenhagen, You Chose Not To Mention That. Newcastle United Have Spent A Fortune And Are Bottom Of Their Champions League Group, But You Just Went All In On Celtic And Scottish Football. But The Bottom Line Is Brendan Rodgers. You Said Something About Him Spending His Most Valuable Years In Scotland. But How Can You Judge What Brendan’S Goals Are With Him Taking On A Particular Job? That’S Not For You To Judge. You Can Change Your Opinion On A Certain Job Role And If Brendan Is Doing That, And Has Gone Back Into A Difficult Situation, Then He’S Entitled To Do That. That’S Not For You To Judge. And Your Whole ‘Mediocre Poverty’ Line On Scottish Football, Is It All About Commercialism? Is It All About Elitism? You’Re Telling Me, In Your Opinion, The Scottish League Is Poor. But This Is Where Scottish People Get Sick And Tired Of The Likes Of Yourself. It’S A Misguided Judgement. Scottish Football, In Terms Of Attendances, Is The Best Supported League In Europe. So You Can Have Your Opinion On The Standard Of Football, But The Biggest And Best Barometer Is That Scottish People Don’T Care What You Think Because They Go To The Games Week In, Week Out And They Love Their Football. That’S The Biggest Barometer, Not Having The Most Riches. That’S Elitism On Your Part. Brendan Rodgers May Have A Different View On What He Wants To Go Back For. You Can’T Judge That, It’S Speculative Based On Nothing.”
Ladyman Tried To Reason With Sutton, Saying, “You Could Argue, They Just Want To Go And Watch Some Football And That’S The Best There Is.” But That Only Made Sutton Even More Fired Up. He Hit Back, Saying, “Oh My God. That’S Insulting. That’S Just Pathetic. I’M Just Being Fair. I Know What Scottish Football Is And So Do People In Scotland. They Don’T Want To Be Patronised By English Journalists Putting The Boot In With Speculative Analysis And Comments, Which I Think, Are Clearly Wrong.”
The Debate Continued With Ladyman Expressing His Desire For A Strong Scottish Premiership, To Which Sutton Replied, “Do You Want A Strong English Premier League? Manchester City Have Won It Five Out Of The Last Six Seasons. They’Ve Dominated, That’S A Bad Thing Then? Because Celtic Have In Scotland And You’Ve Pulled Them Up On It.”
Ladyman Then Brought Up The Standards In The Premier League, Admitting That It’S Not What It Should Be For The Amount Of Money Spent. Sutton Didn’T Back Down, Emphasizing That It’S Not Just About The Money, But About The Product And The Fans Supporting Their Local Teams. He Also Pointed Out That Two Clubs In Scotland Are Just As Big As Any Club Down South, And The Focus On Celtic And Rangers Is Just As Intense. He Made It Clear That Scottish Football Deserves Respect And Recognition, And That English Journalists Need To Understand The Passion And Dedication Of Scottish Football Fans.
Sutton’S Passionate Defence Of Scottish Football Is A Reminder That The Game Is More Than Just Numbers And Statistics. It’S About The Love And Support Of The Fans, The Dedication Of The Players, And The Rich History And Tradition That Make Scottish Football Unique. It’S A Game That Deserves To Be Celebrated And Respected, And Sutton Is Not Afraid To Stand Up For It.
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