Chris Sutton delivers passionate defence of Scottish football as he slams 'elitism' behind attacks on Celtic and Brendan Rodgers on Mail Sport's podcast 'It's All Kicking Off' - with pundit biting back over 'misguided judgement'

Chris Sutton has hit back at Ian Ladyman over his divisive comments on Celtic and Brendan Rodgers, labelling his recent Mail Sport column as 'elitism' and 'misguided'.

Sutton, a legend at Celtic Park after his trophy-laden spell between 2000 and 2006, launched into an impassioned defence of the club and Scottish football as a whole.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Ladyman had questioned why Rodgers had returned to Celtic, taking umbrage at his choice to chase his achievements from his first stint.

But on the latest edition of the 'It's All Kicking Off' podcast, Sutton took the opportunity to bite back and shared his disagreement with Ladyman's arguments.

The debate began when Ladyman pointed to Celtic's defeat by Atletico Madrid and subsequent victory over Aberdeen, and suggested that the club were 'far too good' for the Scottish Premiership but not good enough to compete with the world's best.

Indeed, on an earlier podcast, Ladyman described the football scene in Scotland as a 'wasteland of poverty and mediocrity', a comment Sutton has now rallied against.

'I saw your article, it's a pop at Celtic, it's a pop at Scottish football,' Sutton argued. 'So in a week where Manchester United have spent over 400 million pounds and lose to the minnows of Copenhagen, you chose not to mention that. 

'Newcastle United have spent a fortune. They're bottom of their Champions League group. You just went all in on Celtic and Scottish football.

'You said that he's going, in your article, something about spending his most valuable years. Marking time. How can you judge what Brendan's goals are for him taking on a particular job? How can you judge that? That isn't for you to judge.

'And if Brendan is doing that and he's gone back into a difficult situation, then he's entitled to do that. That's not for you to judge. And your whole mediocre poverty line on Scottish football, I mean, is it all about commercialism? Is it all about elitism? 

'So, but this is where Scottish people get sick and tired of the likes of people like yourself. It's a misguided judgment. The best barometer is Scottish people don't care what you think because they go to the games and they love their football.

'Not having the most riches, that's elitism on your part.'

With Rodgers at the helm, Celtic are top of the league table and eight points clear of Rangers. They are, however, rooted at the bottom of their Champions League group.