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The Evil Genius

Personal

Fullname: Christopher Roy Sutton
aka: Chris Sutton, "The Evil Genius"
Born: 10 Mar 1973
Birthplace: Nottingham, England
Signed: July 2000
Position: Striker/Forward (but also utilised in midfield or defence on occasion)
Internationals:England
International Caps: 1 cap (!)
International Goals: 0

Trivia

• Scorer of the final goal in dying minutes to give us a 1-0 win and whitewash Rangers for the fifth time out of 5 meetings in 2003-04.
• Scored a goal at Blackburn to knock them out of the UEFA Cup, Blackburn was his old club where he was a legend.
• Member of the famous "SAS" partnership with Geordie legend Alan Shearer at Blackburn Rovers.
• Scorer of the fastest goal in Celtic v Rangers history (just 20 seconds into a game)!
• Nicknamed "The Evil Genius" by the celtic fans due to his hunskelping credentials!
  

Biog

What more can be said about this man than he was as important for the club as Henrik Larsson. You read that correctly and that is fully true. Whilst mountains of pieces have been written in praise of Henrik Larsson, Sutton seems to have been overshadowed. Yet in reality the contribution made by this great man can never be underestimated, and at 6ft3 he overshadowed Henke in height at least.

Having been part of the lauded “SAS” partnership (Sutton and Shearer) at Blackburn Rovers which landed them the league title in the 90s , he came to us via Chelsea having had a miserable time there and was wrongly branded a failure. When bought by Martin O’Neill for £6m in 2000, many in England laughed at the price tag and at him, and how he was to prove them wrong. Anyhow, when he signed for us he had the basics right when he rightly proclaimed: "I know the expectations of the Celtic fans. That's to win the league and put Rangers in their place." Bless him!

On the pitch, he got off to a flier scoring the winning goal in his debut game against Dundee Utd, but he earned legendary status early taking part in the classic 6-2 victory over Rangers scoring the first and last goal in that game.

Over time he proved that this was no flash in the pan, and scoring against the Huns was something he relished. Scoring a beezer of a goal that sealed the “Whitewash” of 5 wins in a season against the Orcs was just bliss, whilst another of his great achievements included scoring the fastest goal in a Celtic v Rangers match, scoring in just 20 seconds in 2002.

As part of the club, he helped to change our expectations from just becoming top dogs of Scotland to setting our mark in Europe also. The Road to Seville was blessed with some great moments from Sutton, with the great man relishing proving himself against English opposition, especially in beating Blackburn, scoring a tremendous headed goal against his former club (where he is a legend) in the away leg.

His partnership with Larsson in particular was very fruitful, and Larsson I’m sure would be the first to state his admiration for Sutton. Between them they were the best strike force for many a long year, with BBJ Hartson brought in to assist the pair of them later on. He was able to intimidate and bully defences with little effort or foul play, and that got him the advantages needed. Critics used to try to label him as a cheat or a diver, but that was just nonsense and there was insufficient examples that could be referred to back that accusation up.

Another great asset of the man was his ability to play in different roles, including slotting into midfield or even defence if need be, where his lanky frame allowed him to do so. Defence wasn't his best but he still played the role when need be.

The question is though why is he not as lauded as much as Larsson? To be truthful, he did not have the pure absolute skill or style of Larsson, and unlike Larsson there were those games where you could tell that he simply was not bothered! One example was a game v Rangers where he just seemed uninterested and got himself sent off handling the ball just to get off the pitch.

On top of that, he had a frosty relationship with the press which didn’t help matters, and stories abounded that personally he wasn’t the most pleasant chap with mingling with the fans either. In fairness, those who knew him saw a different side such as Neil Lennon who commented well on Sutton in his biography remarking about the big man's wit and humour.

One infamous incident was an interview where after we had lost the league on the last day to Rangers, he accused Dunfermline of lying down to them! He subsequently apologised but the arrogant streak was as much a weakness in PR terms as it was a strength on the pitch.

Regardless, on the pitch he did more than his fair share and proved himself to all of us.

After MoN’s departure as manager, Sutton’s run in the team was beset by both injuries as well as some animosity with the new manager, Gordon Strachan, which ultimately led to his premature departure. Most of us had wished he's remained for just a season more at least as he had still more to give.

As like many other Celtic fans, all I can say to him is thanks for the memories! Always a great player.

Post-Celtic

He later moved to Aston Villa after an injury hit spell at relegation-bound Birmingham, to be reunited with Martin O’Neill, and then to Birmingham City where he ended his playing days.

Chris Sutton retired in the Summer of 2007 due to an eye injury sustained in the 2006-07 season.

On 28 September 2009 Sutton moved into management when he was appointed manager of Lincoln City.

Playing Career

Club	From	To	Fee	League		Scottish/FA Cup		League cup		Other
Aston Villa	03/10/2006	31/05/2007	Free	6 (2)	1	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0
Birmingham	05/01/2006	03/10/2006	Free	10 (0)	1	1 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Celtic	11/07/2000	05/01/2006	£6,000,000	127 (3)	63	16 (0)	5	8 (1)	2	42 (2)	16
Chelsea	05/07/1999	11/07/2000	£10,000,000	21 (7)	1	3 (1)	1	0 (0)	0	3 (4)	1
Blackburn	13/07/1994	05/07/1999	£5,000,000	126 (5)	50	9 (0)	4	11 (1)	7	7 (3)	1
Norwich	02/07/1991	13/07/1994	Trainee	90 (13)	35	10 (0)	5	8 (1)	3	6 (0)	0
Totals			£21,000,000	380 (30)	151	39 (1)	15	27 (4)	12	58 (9)	18
			goals / game	0.36		0.37		0.38		0.26
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals

Honours with Celtic

Scottish PFA

• Players' Player of the Year 2004

Scottish Premier League

• 2000-01, 2001-02, 2003-04

Scottish Cup

• 2001, 2004, 2005

Scottish League Cup

• 2000-01

UEFA Cup

• Runners-up: 2002-2003

Quotes

David Tanner (Sky Sports): "Chris, just what is it that has made Celtic champions this year?"
Chris: "We got more points than anyone else."

‘I didn’t do well at Chelsea, but Celtic was the best, most enjoyable football of my career. Every day I would wake up looking forward to training, looking forward to working with Martin, John Robertson and Steve Walford. Their sessions were inspirational. If I take anything from them, it is the wish to be fair. Disciplined, but fair. You have to be fair to your players. Others might say different, but, as a player, I would argue that my attitude and application were spot on."
Chris Sutton (2009)

"Chris doesn't like anyone's company. So if he likes Bellamy that is a major plus. If he passes the Sutton test, then he should pass anything."
Martin O'Neill

Pictures

• Player Pictures

On The Forum

• Chris Sutton Retirement Thread

Links

• The Road to Seville (UEFA Cup 2003)