Chris Sutton

CHRIS Sutton is miles away. We have been recording this Big Interview in one of the executive boxes at an empty Carrow Road but Chris has allowed his mind to wander to Anfield, the memory of one day in May 1995 playing out on the pitch below him. His contribution on the afternoon Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League title has been preserved in a number of flickering YouTube videos but this replay is a private screening.

Blackburn lost on the final day of that historic season – Jamie Redknapp whipped a free-kick past Tim Flowers in injury time to seal a 2-1 win for Liverpool – and yet walked off the pitch as championship winners, with title rivals Manchester United frustrated by West Ham.

The matches had been played simultaneously and news of the stalemate at Upton Park would reach the Blackburn fans before their side’s match on Merseyside was over. Their gleeful cries broadcast the club’s success on to the pitch, with the Blackburn players turning to embrace one another even before the final whistle sounded. It was the final act of one of the most incredible campaigns in the history of England’s top flight.


In this podcast, Chris takes us behind the scenes of that season to more fully explain just how the league was won in 1994/95. He covers his £5 million move to Ewood Park and how it came about, and recalls significant matches against Everton and United. He also discusses his infamous decision to dive into a car while on a night out, as well as the subsequent reactions of his father, Mike, and manager Kenny Dalglish.

But as Chris breaks down that campaign, he reveals three key elements which won Blackburn their first title of the Premier League era. He acknowledges the character of that special team and how it was exemplified by captain Tim Sherwood; he discusses the steady leadership of Dalglish; and, of course, Chris talks about his formidable – and often misunderstood – partnership with Alan Shearer.

Chris arrived from Norwich City for a record English transfer fee and, after an unremarkable pre-season, came to form a strike pairing with Shearer which would become known simply as SAS. They contributed 49 goals between them as Blackburn chased down the title – Shearer finished as the league’s top scorer, finding the net 34 times – but they were not such a dynamic duo off the pitch.


“There was always a perception, throughout the time that I played with Alan, that we didn’t get on. Well, we did,” Chris says Part Two of this Big Interview. “We just didn’t go to the pub for meals and I think people made far too much of that as an issue. People go to work in an office every day and are more friendly with some colleagues than others, aren’t they? That was the case at Blackburn, but everybody got on.

“Alan wasn’t afraid of missing – and he didn’t miss very often – a lot like Henrik Larsson. Their mentalities were both very similar. I was ruthless but, when I played alongside Alan at Blackburn and then Henrik at Celtic, I knew that they wanted to be number one. They wanted to finish as the top goalscorer – and I don’t think that bothered me to the same extent that it bothered them. Maybe that was a weakness in my character.”

It did not diminish his contribution to a successful season 22 years ago, when he provided to be the ideal foil for Shearer. The video below shows just how effective their partnership was:


Watch closely and you will also notice Sherwood getting in on the act, hair swept back and driving his team forward from midfield. He was one of a number of strong personalities in that Blackburn dressing room but, as captain, perhaps best personified the side which would become league champions.

“What I liked about Tim was that he would tell you the truth,” Chris says in this podcast. “All the players respected him; he wasn’t a loud mouth but when Tim Sherwood spoke, you listened. He demanded more and that was a big, big part of why we won the league. Like a lot of the players in that dressing room, Tim epitomised what Blackburn were about at that time.”

And yet the club might still have come up short had it not been for Dalglish. Indeed, Blackburn had gone clear at the top of the league, only to falter later in the season – a dip in form which allowed United to press the Ewood Park side all the way to the final minutes of the campaign.

As their lead eroded, Dalglish stood firm. He backed his players in the press and Chris remembers a figure who was always calm and confident in front of his team, a signal that his faith in them was absolute. Their spirits were also lifted by the Scot’s repartee with his compatriot and Old Trafford counterpart, Sir Alex Ferguson.


“Throughout that title-winning season he had that war of words with Ferguson. Some of their spats… it was * for tat and they were both so brilliant in how they handled it,” Chris recalls.

“And Kenny was absolutely a leader. We nearly blew up when we went ahead in the league and we couldn’t have wished for a better figurehead at that time. When I looked at him, he was immovable, solid. We were crumbling and his team talks didn’t change; his confidence in us was always there.”

http://grahamhunter.tv/chris-sutton-league-won/

 

Two interviews and not much of a mention of his time at Celtic. It's mostly centred around his time in England. Not a bad listen, but don't expect too many Celtic stories.

 

Just listening to Sutton vs Durham on Talksport, what a thick hun * that Durham is. Shouting over the top of people repeating the same pish over and over again. How anybody could actually listen to his programme everyday is beyond me.

 

https://soundcloud.com/talksport/fo...ndcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=twitter

 

Adrian Durham is a slimy wee *.

 

Durham is such a *. His volume is at least double Suttons & he tries to be overbearing & loud in an attempt to get at Sutton, Football is all about the budget, to deny it as a debatable point is as idiotic as the guy who gave Durham a mic. He's a scat muncher!

 

Said it in another thread, but Durham is nothing other than a professional troll.

 

44 Today

 

Haven't listened to Durhams show for years since he castigated Lenny for cupping his ears to the mutant mob after receiving the vilest abuse.

 

Link not working for me

 

You'll find it on YouTube thats where I got it

 

Happy birthday Chris.

 

Listened to that TalkSport clip, thought Suttons arguments were mostly poor to be honest.

Don't think his definition of his own tweet was accurate or made much sense. Agree with the point of his definition, but it doesn't represent the tweet for me.

 

Not worth listening to the Durham v Sutton 'debate'. He just shouts over him the entire time, barely let's him get word in.

Complete * of a guy. Get them face to face in an interview situation, then we'll see who's the big man.

Happy Birthday Chris!

 

Only celebrity/famous person I've ever been starstruck by when i met him! Hero.

Happy Birthday Chris!

 

Happy birthday Chris