Celtic may not be in action for over a week due to internationals but that hasn’t stopped former Hoops frontman Chris Sutton from praising his old team in his latest RecordSport column.
The Englishman spoke about the Bhoys’ consistency and how under Brendan Rodgers, the champions are beginning to click into gear. He said: “Slowly but surely, Celtic look as though they are starting to come to the boil under the manager. As I said, it was a slow start. The cohesion was missing and there seemed to be a lack of edge as well as a lack of fluency in their play through that opening month.”
Sutton is right in saying that the Celts didn’t quite hit form until recently. Their early season rustiness was evident, particularly in a 1-0 league cup loss to Kilmarnock.
Now, though, they have improved ahead of a tightly packed time in the footballing schedule. Sutton said: “However, it’s starting to look as if Celtic are finding their stride at a crucial period. Their big strength last season was their ability to juggle the demands of the Champions League along with domestic commitments.”
Indeed through the busy October, November, and December period last year, Celtic failed to drop any points. They will be aiming for a similar run of form this time around, and Sutton believes they are already on one. He said: “Celtic are doing it again. In the first block of matches during the group-stage football in Europe, they have widened their gap at the top from four points to seven. What’s far more important, however, is the fact they are starting to get players back and find a rhythm.”
At the start of the season, the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate were struggling with injuries. Now, however, the majority of the Hoops’ first-team assets are back fit and firing going into a hectic part of the season, which only bodes well.
