Celtic’s 28-year-old defender Cameron Carter-Vickers has become the centre of a debate after Chris Sutton criticised his post-match comments following the 1-0 Rangers defeat. Sutton, writing in the Daily Record , described the defender’s remarks as “disgraceful” and “pathetic”, arguing that public criticism of the coaching staff deepened the situation.

Carter-Vickers described the team’s performance as too random and said players sometimes froze because they did not know where they should run. He wanted greater consistency in the team’s messaging. Sutton accepted that Celtic have tactical problems, yet he argued that players must accept responsibility instead of placing blame on the manager and coaches.

Sutton singled out Carter-Vickers. He recalled O’Neill’s first spell at the club and argued that the manager would not have tolerated such comments. Sutton then criticised Callum McGregor, saying experienced players should make decisions without a coach providing every instruction.

“I’ve been a huge admirer of his over the years and I’ve constantly sung his praises.

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 being 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.