Sutton welcomes Shearer approach
Celtic striker Chris Sutton is not surprised that boss Martin O’Neill has attempted to lure the Parkhead player’s former strike partner Alan Shearer to Glasgow.
Sutton and Shearer were the scourge of English defences when they combined at Ewood Park in the mid-90s – when they helped unfashionable Blackburn Rovers to the Carling Premiership in 1995.
And, after hearing that O’Neill had confirmed his interest in the Geordie, Sutton said: “When you’re at a club like Celtic, you’re looking to sign top players and there’s no doubt that Shearer is still a top player and a handful for anybody.
“We need competition in the squad if we want to progress in Europe and he’s certainly a quality player.
“Celtic is a big club and, although we’ve made one signing, we’ve lost a couple of really big players in the close season and we want to continue to do well. But it’s none of my business who we try and sign or don’t sign – that’s up to the manager.”
Sutton, who scored the second goal in Celtic’s opening-day victory over Motherwell at Parkhead, insisted his much-maligned partnership with John Hartson could work but the former Chelsea striker admitted the addition of loan striker Henri Camara from Wolves would give the squad a much-needed boost.
He said: “I’ve played with John numerous times since I’ve come to the club in some very big games and we feel we can play together and it’s not a problem.
“We both feel we can play off one another but there is obviously competition with Henri coming in and he’s a different kind of player.
“Craig Beattie had done very well in pre-season and he’s given us another option so there is a lot of competition for places.
“I’ve only seen Henri a week in training but he gives us a different option in that he’s very quick and sharp. That’s not to say that John and I aren’t the quickest, but he’s got different pace to the majority of players.
“It’s up to everyone to chip in with their fair share of goals. I wouldn’t describe myself as an out-and-out striker since I’ve come here but in the end it doesn’t matter as long as we win things.”
Sutton, however, refused to concede that the Hoops’ early two-point advantage over rivals Rangers was of any significance in this year’s title race.
He said: “We don’t think that we’re still the team to beat, we just go out and work as hard as we possibly can.
“I think Rangers have made some good acquisitions. Obviously I think they’ll miss Ronald de Boer but they’ve signed some good strikers and Boumsong looks a very good buy.
“It will be very difficult for us to retain our title and we know that, and this result counts for nothing really.”
