CRAIG Gordon finally has his answer.
The 36-year-old candidly admitted Neil Lennon’s choice of goalkeeper in today’s Old Firm derby would tell him where he sits in the manager’s future plans.
“I want to play as many games as I possibly can,” Gordon said. “But it’s a difficult situation to have four guys who have all played international football (Scott Bain, Fraser Forster, Gordon and Conor Hazard) all vying for one position.
“Bainy will be back soon, I think he’s only a few weeks away. But it’s going to be an interesting situation and a difficult one, not only for the coaches, but also the players to deal with.
“We’ll find out at the weekend. Whatever the answer is come Sunday we’ll all know where we stand.
“It’s just up to me to play and train and play as well as I can when I get the chance to get in the team.”
It appears those plans put Gordon as second fiddle to the returning Fraser Forster with Lennon giving the Englishman the nod for the biggest game of the season so far.
In many ways, this made Sophie’s Choice look tame. Stick by the keeper who’s rarely let Celtic down in recent seasons or go back to the future with his own man? Lennon has stuck his neck out with the latter.
In doing so, he may have signalled the end of Gordon’s career at the top. The stopper has achieved so much since bursting onto the scene at Hearts. A move to England and over 50 caps for Scotland followed and even the great Gigi Buffon couldn’t help but be impressed by Godon’s natural talent between the sticks.
For any young goalkeeper growing up in Scotland during the mid-noughties, Gordon (and, for that matter, Allan McGregor) was idolised for his quick reflexes, bravery in one-on-ones and his canny knack for being able to read the game. It’s little wonder his save against Zat Knight during a dreich day at the Stadium of Light remains to this day one of the Premier League’s finest.
The very best of Craig Gordon...👐 #SAFC #HawayTheLads pic.twitter.com/W7I8fdltCI
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) August 8, 2018
Gordon and McGregor. In many ways fire and ice. McGregor the combustible type you’d love to have with you in the trenches. Gordon, the cool, calm and collected one who could perhaps be accused of being overly so. There's always been an unmistakable symmetry to their careers but it's the Rangers stopper who seems to have lasted.
Forster, of course, is a fine goalkeeper in his own right with over 100 Premier League appearances, a member of two England major championship squads, and the winner of five trophies during his first spell in Glasgow.
He arrived back at Celtic to much fanfare and revelled in linking up once again with Lennon, who Forster says he has a “great connection” with, and barely put a foot wrong in his second debut for the club last Sunday in the comfortable 3-1 in over Hearts.
But, he has struggled for form and game time down south, losing his Southampton place to successive managers and started the season third choice behind the talented Angus Gunn and Alex McCarthy.
A return to Glasgow was always going to be a move for redemption and to kickstart a career which surprisingly stalled.
He has enjoyed success in Old Firm derbies in the past with five clean sheets from eight games.
One more today would go some way to justifying Lennon's decision to opt for Forster over Gordon, effectively throwing one of the finest goalkeepers in Scottish history to the scrap heap.
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