Celtic v Ferencvaros - UEFA Champions League: Second Qualifying Round
Celtic are enduring a terrible season by their standards (Picture: Getty Images)

Chris Sutton feels the next Celtic manager is in for an extremely difficult task unless numerous signings are made over the summer.

Neil Lennon resigned as Bhoys boss earlier this month with the title race all but over in Scotland.

Celtic currently sit 15 points behind Rangers and hopes of catching their bitter rivals are at an end.

John Kennedy is currently in charge of the side and is in contention to become the permanent manager, although former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe is the current favourite with the bookmakers to be in charge next season.

Whoever it is who takes the reins, Sutton has serious sympathy for them given how this season has gone at Celtic Park.

‘Celtic have been sleeping this season,’ Sutton told BT Sport. ‘There’s been a lack of leadership all throughout the club and its a massive problem and they are not out of the woods just because Neil has stepped down.

‘Many Celtic fans think Neil was selfish by carrying on. Neil thought he could turn it round. On the face of it, I thought Neil should’ve stepped down after the defeat against Ross County in the League Cup back in November.

‘But now Celtic have to look forward and think about next season. The truth of the matter is that a new manager coming into Celtic, if he’s appointed in June, if he has to work with this current squad then God help him.’

Sutton has suggested a couple of managers currently in charge in the Championship as good candidates for the role in Glasgow, although they might not be the ones you would expect.

Everton FC v AFC Bournemouth - Premier League
Eddie Howe is in contention for the Celtic job (Picture: Getty Images)

‘It’s a really, really difficult one. Maybe Celtic have something up their sleeve and will pull somebody in from the continent with a big reputation,’ he said.

‘I think somebody like Michael O’Neill has done a pretty decent job throughout his management career. Maybe have a shot for somebody like him.

‘I’ll tell you an interesting one down south. Mick McCarthy’s gone into Cardiff City and turned them around. He may not be everybody’s cup of team but you sort of know he will organise his team and get them playing a certain way.’

MORE : Roy Keane the perfect fit to become new Celtic manager, says Richard Dunne

MORE : Rangers boss Steven Gerrard keen for pint with Neil Lennon after resignation at Celtic

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Full Post Here - Chris Sutton sends message to the next Celtic manager: ‘God help him’
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Chris Sutton sends message to the next Celtic manager: ‘God help him’

Celtic are enduring a terrible season by their standards (Picture: Getty Images) Chris Sutton feels the next Celtic manager is in for...
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Leicester City v Arsenal - Premier League
Emile Smith Rowe sustained a groin injury (Photo by Tim Keeton – Pool/Getty Images)

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he’s hopeful that the injury Emile Smith Rowe sustained in a 3-1 win against Leicester is not ‘too bad’.

The midfielder was selected to start at the King Power Stadium but he was removed shortly before half-time and replaced by Martin Odegaard.

The youngster was one of five players to start against the Foxes that also started against Benfica on Thursday and the quick turnaround may have contributed to the apparent groin problem that he sustained.

Emile Smith Rowe has been in fine form for the Gunners but Arteta admits the midfielder suffered a ‘muscle’ injury and he was forced to take action.

FBL-ENG-PR-LEICESTER-ARSENAL
Smith Rowe was taken off shortly before half-time (Photo by TIM KEETON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

‘It was a muscle injury,’ admitted Arteta.

‘He wast feeling comfortable to carry on, we decided to take him off but hopefully it’s not too bad.’

Arsenal recorded a morale-boosting win in the Midlands, despite falling behind to an early goal from Youri Tielemans.

However, the Gunners settled nicely and drew level through David Luiz before taking the lead on the stroke of half-time when Alexandre Lacazette converted from the penalty spot.

Leicester lost Jonny Evans and Harvey Barnes to injury after the break and Nicolas Pepe made the Foxes pay by adding a third.

MORE : Mason Mount reveals what Thomas Tuchel told him before dropping him against Wolves


Full Post Here - Mikel Arteta provides Emile Smith Rowe injury update after Arsenal’s win against Leicester City
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Mikel Arteta provides Emile Smith Rowe injury update after Arsenal’s win against Leicester City

Emile Smith Rowe sustained a groin injury (Photo by Tim Keeton – Pool/Getty Images) Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he’s hopeful that...
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Alastair Cook says India captain Virat Kohli's pitch claim was 'strange'
Alastair Cook says India captain Virat Kohli’s pitch claim was ‘strange’ (Pictures: BCCI / Getty)

Alastair Cook ‘does not blame’ India for preparing a spin-friendly pitch for the third Test against England but says it was ‘strange’ for Virat Kohli to describe the Ahmedabad surface as ‘very good’ for batting.

India clinched a ten-wicket victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium last week in an extraordinary Test match which lasted less than two days.

It was the shortest Test in terms of balls bowled since World War Two, with spinners accounting for 28 of the 30 wickets to fall.

England were bowled out for 112 and 81, while India also suffered a remarkable collapse in their first innings, losing seven wickets for 31 runs to be bowled out for 145.

Part-time spinner Joe Root claimed incredible figures of 5-8 from 6.2 overs on a pitch that has been widely criticised, but Kohli claimed poor batting was the issue rather than the surface.

Speaking at his post-match interview, Kohli said: ‘The quality of batting wasn’t at all up to standard by both teams. I think batsmen need to trust their defence much more than they’re presenting at the moment.

‘[It was] a very good pitch to bat on – especially in the first innings – and it felt like the ball was coming on nicely with the odd-ball turning.’

India beat England by ten wickets in a remarkable Test match
India beat England by ten wickets in a remarkable Test match (Picture: Getty)

Former England captain Cook disagreed with Kohli, however, although he refused to criticise India for preparing a pitch that would benefit them more than England.

‘I understand why fans watching on TV felt short-changed by the surface prepared for the third Test but actually I don’t blame India, although Virat Kohli’s remark that it was “very good to bat on” was strange,’ he told The Times.

‘If anything, the pitch was a compliment to England for how they had outplayed the hosts in the first Test. On a good surface, India saw that their opponents were more than their equal and decided to tilt the odds in their favour.

‘There was also the little matter of their qualification for the World Test Championship final in England this summer, which is dependent on them winning the series. Nice to see they take the championship seriously.’

Spinners Axar Patel and Ravinchandran Aswhin took 18 of India’s 20 wickets in the match and Cook admits he would have ‘struggled’ against Ashwin, who surpassed 400 Test scalps during the Test.

Cook, who averaged more than 50 in Asia, added: ‘On a normal pitch I would have waited for the ball I could clip to leg, the ball that could be swept and anything that could be driven safely or cut into the off side.

‘What we saw in Ahmedabad was not a normal pitch, however. Only three hours into the first day the ball was either skidding on, bouncing more than usual or turning to the extent that it was missing the stumps, the edge of the bat, the keeper’s gloves and being taken at first slip.

‘It got even more surreal when the part-time spinner Joe Root picked up a five-for in half an hour on the second morning.

Joe Root's side need to win the fourth Test to draw the series
Joe Root’s side need to win the fourth Test to draw the series (Picture: Channel 4)

‘When you’ve got so much variation off the pitch from a bowler who puts the ball in the right areas consistently then you worry that you may be a sitting duck if you bat conservatively.

‘The sweep shot can be a release valve but that too, as was the case in Ahmedabad, brought its own risks against Ashwin and although Ben Stokes looked to be proactive, he too eventually paid the price.

‘I never had Ben Stokes’ natural aggression so I would have backed my defence to wear down Ashwin. Eventually, I would have reasoned, he will tire and bowl a bad ball or be taken off.

‘The problem last week was that the ball with my name on it would probably have got me before that point.’

By beating England in Ahmedabad, India took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series, which concludes at the same venue next week.

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Full Post Here - India captain Virat Kohli’s pitch claim after third Test was ‘strange’, says England legend Alastair Cook
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India captain Virat Kohli’s pitch claim after third Test was ‘strange’, says England legend Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook says India captain Virat Kohli’s pitch claim was ‘strange’ (Pictures: BCCI / Getty) Alastair Cook ‘does not blame’ Indi...
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Mason Mount
Mount has been a key figure under Tuchel (Picture: Getty)

Mason Mount has revealed his conversations with Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel after initially being dropped from the Chelsea coach by the German.

Mount has been one of Chelsea’s best performers this season, thriving under the new Blues boss having played an integral role in the side under previous boss Frank Lampard.

The England international was dropped from the starting XI for Tuchel’s first game in charge at Stamford Bridge however as the former PSG boss tweaked his system at home to Wolves.

‘It’s very difficult. You know what I’m like, I want to play every single game,’ Mount told the Daily Mail.

‘But, with the new manager coming in, I understood that he went for experience [against Wolves]. We had a chat and I understood what his view was and that really helped me moving on. I knew I just had to keep working hard and show him what I can do.

Mason Mount
Mount was on the scoresheet against Southampton last weekend (Picture: Getty)

‘Obviously now I have played or started mostly every game. He just said: “Keep working hard, I’ve seen you only for one session and I’m very happy so don’t let your head drop.”

‘And that’s something I wouldn’t do anyway. I’m always someone who wants to strive to prove someone wrong or show something that maybe they haven’t seen.’

Mount has completed the full 90 in four of Chelsea’s five league outings since then but Tuchel has shown his ruthless side elsewhere in the team with Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi among those to have been hauled off by the manager.

Abraham has been replaced at half-time in each of his two league starts under Tuchel with Hudson-Odoi subbed off after coming on from the bench at half-time against Southampton last week.

Hudson-Odoi was back in the starting XI three days later against Atletico Madrid however with Mount praising the manager’s transparency on the training pitch, insisting he is clear in what he wants from his players.

‘He’s very passionate,’ says Mount. ‘When he came in, we had a meeting, we had training and we had one day before a game and everyone knew their role with the team.

‘It was very clear what he wanted. The players understand what a new manager wants and what his goal of playing is, what he wants off the ball, what he wants on the ball, what kind of movement. He made it very easy to understand. We’ve been learning more and more.’

MORE : Graeme Souness slams ‘weak’ Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta over Frank Lampard criticism

MORE : Timo Werner opens up on ‘worst time of his career’ at Chelsea

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Full Post Here - Mason Mount reveals what Thomas Tuchel told him before dropping him against Wolves
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Mason Mount reveals what Thomas Tuchel told him before dropping him against Wolves

Mount has been a key figure under Tuchel (Picture: Getty) Mason Mount has revealed his conversations with Chelsea head coach Thomas...
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