HENRIK LARSSON ON SUTTON, LENNON AND CELTIC
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 33 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Like most Celtic fans fortunate enough to have been regularly attending matches in the late 90s and early 2000s, I will never, ever, tire of watching the goals, the assists and the absolutely beautiful football that Henrik Larsson gifted to us over his 7 years at Celtic Park.
Was he Celtic’s greatest ever player?
That’s largely a generational question. I’ve no doubt he was the greatest all-round player I saw in a Celtic shirt, though as someone born in the early 80s, I never had the pleasure of seeing Jimmy Johnstone play at his prime. My dad, however, has assured me on numerous occasions: “Whatever you think of Henrik, Jinky was even better!”
Personally, I think the most naturally gifted footballer I ever saw at Celtic Park was Lubo Moravcik. If only we could have gotten him 10 years earlier...
Anyway, while Celtic’s media team were busy punting merch, Henrik Larsson himself sat down to speak exclusively with our friends over at flashscore.co.uk about his time at Celtic and the players he played alongside.
Henrik Larsson Names “Most Underrated” Player at Celtic
Naturally, Henrik was full of praise for Chris Sutton, his strike partner for the bulk of his Celtic career. He said of the big Englishman who now works as a pundit and still never misses a chance to score against Rangers: “I think Chris Sutton was extremely good for me, and I was extremely good for him.
We were a good partnership. We were good, both good in the air, but we were also good in the link-up play. And we both played for the team, and that's so important to have."
However, fans may be surprised to hear Larsson’s emphatic and instant response when asked who was the most underrated player he played alongside at Celtic.
“Neil Lennon”. He answered succinctly and with barely a nanosecond of thought. I have to say Henrik and I are in complete agreement on this one.
Much is made of the battles Neil Lennon faced off the pitch because he chose to play for the club he loves, but perhaps amidst that and further critique of his two spells as manager of Celtic, maybe we all forget just how vital his contribution was on the pitch.
Every team needs that midfield general who does all the simple yet sturdy work, to allow flair players like Larsson and Lubo to really shine.
It was Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, it was Claude Makelele at Real Madrid, and at Celtic it was Neil Lennon.
It’s good to see that, despite being a totally different kind of footballer, Henrik Larsson still has the footballing intelligence to see these qualities and to recognize them.
Larsson also had a closing remark that will leave Celtic fans chuckling. Initially, he didn’t want to single out an individual favorite moment among his 315 games and 242 goals for Celtic.
However, when pressed Larsson said: “I have to say beating the other team 6-2 wasn't bad, and I had a great goal in that game as well”.
The smile he gives with this answer suggests he knows fine well the significance of not even bothering to name our now deceased rivals.
25 years on, and Henrik still lives rent free in the heads of Rangers (Requiescat in Pace) fans everywhere!