Chris Sutton is the latest to lay a boot on Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, who gave what has become a controversial post-match interview after Sunday's latest Old Firm defeat.
After Celtic lost their second successive derby, Carter-Vickers said that Celtic had been playing 'random' football, suggesting players were unsure of what they were supposed to be doing. But also made it clear that players needed to step up and that they were behind Martin O'Neill.
Still, the interview has been taken as throwing O'Neill under the bus, and a number of pundits have hit out, including Sutton, who has become the latest.
“I’ve been a huge admirer of his over the years and I’ve constantly sung his praises,” Sutton wrote in the Daily Record.
“But his comments after the Rangers defeat were disgraceful. Carter-Vickers spoke about the random way of playing, the messaging and stuff about freezing on the pitch because players were unsure of where they were meant to run.
“It was a cop-out. Whether he meant it or not, he was passing the buck back to the manager and the coaches – and it’s not on. It was pathetic. You might feel that way in private, but the place to air those thoughts is in-house rather than in public.
“It was a tough enough situation, but Carter-Vickers just chucked petrol on the flames. The Martin O’Neill of 25 years ago wouldn’t have stood for it, that’s for sure. Carter-Vickers’ feet wouldn’t have hit the floor.”
Player interviews are dead
If Carter-Vickers cannot have that opinion, what is the point of player interviews? Let's be honest, for the most part, they are boring anyway. Players are told not to say this or that, and we get very little.
As fans, we only watch for the rare outburst, when a player might give us something juicy, an honest line about what is going on. Carter-Vickers has done that, giving an honest verdict on what is going on, on what he saw during the game, which is supposed to be the whole point of post-match interviews.
He pointed to clear issues that every fan can see is true. A player lying about what fans are seeing or trying to explain it away never ends well, so what is the defender supposed to do?
He hasn't specifically blamed anyone, and as long as he has had the same conversation with O'Neill, then what is the problem? The 74-year-old should be able to take some criticism anyway. This is professional football played by big boys, we don't need to cry for O'Neill or feel bad for him.
If he wants to have a pop at Carter-Vickers for what he said, then so be it, but the result will be more boring, empty player interviews that offer no value for fans. Fans should appreciate the honesty.
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