CHRIS SUTTON has branded the reaction to Peter Lawwell stepping down by a section of the Celtic support as ‘ridiculous’.

Many fans were delighted to hear the CEO was moving on, not because of this season, but because many feel he has become stale and been in the job way too long.

The average shelf life of a CEO is around five years — Peter beat that by 12 years.

There’s no doubting the astute business man behind the scenes but when he strayed into the football side of things, that’s when Celtic fans would become disgruntled.

An era of domestic dominance but the crazy thing is, there could have been more trophies had the CEO been a bit more of a risk taker.

Peter always aired on the side of caution, gambled on getting to the Champions League with what we had, rather than invest and gamble we would get the Champions league money.

I think a lot of Celtic fans have been fed up this season, not just because the team has fallen flat but the way the club has communicated with them or for a better description — not communicated.

I think that’s why we’ve seen a reaction from a section of the support who Sutton brands as ridiculous.

Here’s what the pundit wrote in his RecordSport column.

“The reaction from a section of the support has been ridiculous. This season has clouded all opinions but Lawwell has earned the right to leave with his head held high.

“He also has to clean up some of the mess on the way out though.

“Listen, it’s no secret I’ve not always seen eye to eye with Lawwell. I was less than pleased with the way things ended for me at Celtic and there’s certainly been no love lost over the years I have been doing this column. I certainly can’t be accused of being some Lawwell cheerleader, that’s for sure. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate what he has done for Celtic over his 17 years at the helm.”