Celtic celebrate winning the Scottish Premiership title (Picture: Getty)
Chris Sutton says Celtic made an ‘unforgivable’ mistake this season despite clinching yet another Scottish Premiership title.
Brendan Rodgers’ side smashed Kilmarnock 5-0 on Wednesday night to seal a 12th league title in 13 seasons.
Celtic have amassed 90 points from 37 games ahead of the final day of the season, with Rangers back on 84 after a crucial defeat to their arch-rivals at the weekend.
Sutton has praised the returning Rodgers for guiding Celtic to the title but says his former club made an ‘unforgivable’ error by failing to prepare for the Champions League campaign.
Despite flourishing domestically, Celtic endured another difficult European run, finishing bottom of Group E with four defeats, one draw and a win in their final match against Feyenoord.
‘The supporters want to see the team challenge or make a better fist of European competition,’ Sutton, who won four Scottish Premierships in six years at Celtic, told Sky Sports.
‘This season, you have to say it was a disappointment. It was quite a gentle group Celtic were in in the Champions League, and to end up finishing bottom was unacceptable.
Celtic smashed Kilmarnock to clinch the title (Picture: Getty)
‘I think that the club sat on their hands when they won the league last season. They had time to plan and weren’t ready for the Champions League. Without being too negative I think that was pretty much unforgivable.
‘Celtic fans want to see their team competing in Europe again so that will be the next challenge. The rest of this season, it’s about making sure you win the Scottish Cup again.’
On Celtic’s title win and the performance of Rodgers, who returned to the club last summer following four years at Leicester City, Sutton added: ‘I don’t think it’s his best title win. The invincible season was incredible.
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‘I admire him. At the start of the season, there were a fair few Celtic fans sceptical about his return and I understand that because of the way that he left.
‘He was really brave to come back and courageous to do that because it could have gone wrong this season. The important thing was coming back and winning the league and he’s done that.
‘During the season Celtic have had injury issues, never really replaced Jota, but in the end it’s about finishing first. It’s pretty much job done on Brendan’s return.’
Chris Sutton won four league titles in six years at Celtic Park (Picture: Getty)
Rodgers, meanwhile, described his team’s performance against Kilmarnock as ‘immense’ as they raced into a three-goal lead before scoring twice after half-time to secure the title in style.
‘Our performance level was immense,’ the 51-year-old said. ‘Everything I want in the team, technique, speed, power, mobility, creativity, it was all there.
‘Overall, it was a brilliant team performance and a great way to clinch the title. We wanted to sprint over the line and we went over it really quickly tonight.’
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