Chris Sutton has destroyed centre-back Dedryck Boyata, even though he scored the winning goal for Celtic in their 1-0 triumph over Hamilton at Parkhead on Sunday afternoon.
Boyata, 27, has been accused of refusing to play for the Scottish champions and ahead of the clash with the Accies, a section of Hoops fans unfurled a banner that said the Belgium international is not fit to wear the shirt.
Of course, Boyata went on to earn Brendan Rodgers’ side all three points, but ex-Celtic star Sutton has claimed in a rant on radio that the 6ft 2 (transfermarkt) centre-back should not have even played in the game
“He’s disrespected the shirt. He shouldn’t have been picked [yesterday] and he ends up scoring the winner,” said Sutton as shown on BBC 5 Live Sport’s official Twitter account.
“Can the fans forgive him? I think a lot can’t. I don’t think he should be forgiven.
“But do you know what? People do make mistakes. It would help him a lot if he turned around and said ‘I’m sorry’.
“The fact that he hasn’t done that yet, what do we make of his character then? It’s arrogance beyond belief.”
"He's downed tools. He's disrespected the shirt."@chris_sutton73 questions whether there's any way back for Dedryck Boyata despite scoring the winner for #CelticFC on Sunday ?#BBC606 pic.twitter.com/fzr8am4Znx
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) August 27, 2018
OPINION
Sutton could not be more right about Boyata. Once a player refuses to play for a club that pays his wages and has revived his career, there should be no way back for him and Rodgers should look to offload him as soon as he can or let him rot in the reserves. Celtic’s issue is that Boyata is still one of the best centre-backs at the club, so if the side starts to suffer a poor run of defensive performances, he may have to play. There was no need to play him against Hamilton though. The Green Brigade did not seem as though they were expected him to start before they unfurled that banner, but probably should have stopped once seeing he was in the starting line-up. When on the pitch, players need 100 per cent support and the fact that Boyata scored made them look a bit silly.