Celtic hero Chris Sutton hits out at Cameron Carter-Vickers over Rangers comments

Chris Sutton has criticised Cameron Carter-Vickers for what he believes was an attempt to shift responsibility onto Martin O’Neill and the Celtic coaching staff following last weekend’s Old Firm defeat.

Celtic suffered a second consecutive loss to Rangers, going down 1-0 at Celtic Park after their heavy 3-0 Premier Sports Cup defeat the previous week. The result leaves O’Neill facing increased pressure, with the manager now using the international break to consider his position after a run of three straight defeats.

Carter-Vickers was unusually blunt when discussing Celtic’s performance after the Rangers match. The defender described the team’s approach as too “random” and admitted the players had struggled to follow a clear plan during another difficult afternoon.

Sutton, who enjoyed a hugely successful spell under O’Neill during the manager’s first stint at Celtic, believes the criticism aimed at the 74-year-old has gone too far. However, the former Hoops striker insists the players cannot escape responsibility for what has happened on the pitch.

Writing in his Daily Record column, Sutton singled out Carter-Vickers and took issue with the defender’s post-match comments.

He argued that while Carter-Vickers may have simply been explaining how the team felt during the match, publicly questioning the tactics and messaging effectively placed the blame on O’Neill and his coaching staff.

Sutton believes those concerns should have been addressed internally rather than discussed immediately after a damaging defeat.

Carter-Vickers had explained that Celtic needed to rediscover a clear “script” and stick to it, particularly in high-pressure matches. He also acknowledged that the players themselves had a responsibility to improve and admitted they needed to find a way to perform with greater clarity.

For Sutton, however, the timing and nature of those comments only added to the pressure surrounding O’Neill.

The Celtic legend feels responsibility for the club’s recent struggles has to be shared, with the players expected to respond on the pitch rather than allowing all of the criticism to fall on the manager.