Chris Sutton claims ‘bang-average’ Todd Cantwell has been ‘discarded’ by five managers as he hits back at Rangers ace
Chris Sutton has responded to criticism from Todd Cantwell and suggested the Rangers midfielder has had a “bang-average career” yet has too much to say for himself.
The Sky Sports pundit said on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast for Mail Sport (19 October) that the Ibrox midfielder is “away with the fairies” and needs to get off social media and focus on football.
Cantwell had appeared on The Beautiful Game podcast earlier this week (16 October) to say Sutton was “sad” and an “attention seeker” because he was “trying to stay relevant” having previously done a positive interview with him when at Carrow Road, but Sutton rejected the criticism and claimed that Cantwell had to “take some responsibility” himself.
Sutton said (13m): “I think at this moment in time he’s away with the fairies, I really do. The frustrating thing is that for someone who, to date, has had a bang-average career he doesn’t half have a high opinion of himself.
“The truth is he’s better known for his social media presence, being on TikTok, than he is for what he’s done on the pitch. And that’s something if it I was him I’d want to address, I think he needs to focus on his football.”
He added: “I read some of his quotes about Norwich City. The five managers previous to Michael Beale, they all discarded Todd right? Why did they discard Todd? Something must be up… Five managers all thought the same thing about him.
“So when is the penny going to drop and is Todd actually going to take some responsibility for his own actions? Do your talking on the pitch.”
Feud
It is true that Sutton is a pundit who is paid to give his opinion on footballers so in a way there is every reason for him to comment on Cantwell.
But it could just as well be argued he has singled out the Rangers man to an unnecessary degree, either deliberately or because it plays into him being pro-Celtic and pro-Norwich and his cartoon bad guy persona.
Whether the likes of Alfredo Morelos might be able to argue he was also a similar target is open for debate, but while the rivalry is entertaining in a pantomime sense up to a point it is only going to have a negative effect on the player if it goes past that.
Cantwell undoubtedly has talent and on his day is possibly the best player at Ibrox but unfortunately at the moment, after he and others have underperformed to the degree that the manager for whom he was the star man has been sacked, it is too easy for the likes of Sutton to criticise.
There is potentially a valid conversation to be had about a 50-year-old former player regularly trying to wind up the same current rival of half his age.
But at the same time it is probably true that if Cantwell had reached the point his early potential suggested then Beale would have never been able to sign him in the first place.
The 25-year-old has alluded a number of times to how poorly he was treated at Norwich [Beautiful Game, 16 October] as his career slowed down, and from the outside it is impossible to know how fair that is.
So there are elements of truth to Sutton’s argument, and he will no doubt forever point to them until Cantwell proves them wrong, even if he probably goes overboard with it like most things when it comes to Rangers and the Old Firm rivalry.
In other Rangers news, Philippe Clement has made an early call on an exit-linked star ahead of the January window.