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Chris Sutton had been a regular goalscorer in his time at Norwich City
and Blackburn Rovers, but his stay at Stamford Bridge proved to be a
huge disappointment. The big target-man arrived at Chelsea in the summer
of 1999, with Chelsea boss Gianluca Vialli parting with £10 million to
get his man. Just a year later he was on his way to Scottish giants
Celtic with the Londoners losing £4 million on the deal. Sutton was
never able to fit in with Chelsea's slick passing game and in
twenty-eight League appearances, seven of which were as a sub, he
managed just one goal. That strike came in Chelsea's memorable 5-0
thrashing of Manchester United at the Bridge but that game proved to be
something of a false dawn for both club and player.
The Blues were to
win just one of their next eight League games whilst Chris found himself
in and out of the team over the next few months. Sutton had actually
opened his Chelsea scoring account during a 3-0 win over Skonto Riga in
the third qualifying round of the European Champions League but during
the clubs run to the quarter-final stage he was to appear only
fleetingly. Manager Vialli preferred the strike pairing of Gianfranco
Zola and Tore-Andre Flo and Sutton started just three of Chelsea's
sixteen games in the competition. The 6ft 3in striker's only other
Chelsea goal came in a 6-1 F.A. Cup third round win at Hull City but
come May there was to be Wembley heartbreak. After playing in the
semi-final victory over Newcastle United Sutton failed to feature in a
1-0 win over Aston Villa beneath the twin towers and it was no shock
when he made that summer switch to Glasgow. (David Scranage)
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