There’s a chance THAT Mikel Arteta penalty for Rangers still haunts former Celtic hero Chris Sutton.
The Parkhead side had their sights set on a quadruple in the 02/03 season but Rangers stood in their way as Celtic reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final.
Our Old Firm rivals wound up the season trophy-less that campaign as a star-studded Rangers team swept the treble at Ibrox.
Chris Sutton on how he felt after Mikel Arteta penalty
Mikel Arteta, who’d joined Rangers in the summer, played a crucial role with a decisive penalty in a 6-1 win over Dunfermline which sealed the league title on the final day.
Celtic, who were level on points with Rangers, fell short against Kilmarnock in a 4-0 victory which wasn’t enough to halt Alex McLeish’s Rangers team.
Speaking after the game at Rugby Park, Chris Sutton famously accused Jimmy Calderwood’s Dunfermline of ‘lying down’ at Ibrox.
Dunfermline threatened legal action over the comments with Sutton eventually apologising to the Pars, the striker receiving a further one match ban on top of a four match ban for abusing officials in the same game.
The meltdown is the stuff of legend amongst Rangers fans and Sky Sports couldn’t resist turning the screw in a recent interview.
Chris Sutton was talking as part of a Sky Sports Transfer 360 looking into Arteta’s transfer to Rangers and the interviewer asked him how the Spaniard’s last minute penalty made him feel.
Sutton offered a sarcastic eight word response: “I was made up, made up for him.”
Celtic were well ‘aware’ of Rangers midfielder’s quality
Despite the fall-out of Rangers’ title victory in 2003, Chris Sutton has been speaking about Celtic’s approach to Mikel Arteta that season.
Rangers paid £6m to sign Arteta from Barcelona and the midfielder played a crucial role in that famous treble win from the 02/03 campaign.
Speaking about Mikel Arteta the player, Sutton admits the midfielder was targeted by the Celtic team because they ‘admired’ the midfielder’s ’technical ability’.
But the former Celtic hitman admits that the Rangers midfielder gave as good as he got in the heat of the Old Firm derby.
”We were aware of Mikel,” said Sutton.
”He came with a reputation that he was a talented young player and Rangers, their signings back then were pretty on point.
”So we were aware of him.
”I was playing in midfield at that particular time when Mikel came into the Rangers team and I think our mindset was to not let him have time and to get his head up.
”We all admired him as a footballer and his technical ability. Our mindset was to smother him and to be really aggressive with him.
”But he was a guy who could handle that.
”In the derby games you’re up against Petrov, you’re up against Lennon.
“That would’ve been a sharp learning curve for him and he would’ve certainly understood in his time what Glasgow is all about.”
