Celtic pundit Chris Sermanni has recently been talking about Craig Gordon and has delivered a verdict about the goalkeeper.
Sermanni was recently a guest on the latest episode of ‘The Cynic Weekly’ podcast and the panel held discussions about the club’s transfers for the summer. One of the topics for debate was Craig Gordon and what the future might hold for the goalkeeper.
Gordon recently revealed in an interview with TalkSport (via Daily Record) that Celtic had offered him a new contract, but said that they could have handled negotiations ‘an awful lot better’. He said that the Hoops wanted him to take an ‘enormous’ pay-cut. Gordon’s deal at Parkhead ran out at the end of May.
While talking about whether Celtic should look to keep Gordon at Parkhead, Sermanni said: “If we don’t get [Fraser] Forster, people will be absolutely distraught.
Are Celtic right to try and re-sign Gordon?
No, its a poor decision
Yes, keep him as back-up
“But if we go back to Craig Gordon – a guy who’ll be a year older – it’ll be a severe downgrade. So I would be unhappy with it. I would be even more unhappy though, with Scott Bain, but that’s another issue.
“My feeling on the matter is he was on too much money, he’s getting too old, he had been ousted in the team by another goalkeeper. Signing him up would be a bit of an anti-climax. It’s not something that I think that we should do.”
Sermanni clearly feels that the club should really sign Fraser Forster and getting Gordon back wouldn’t go down well with him.
TIF Thoughts…
While Gordon’s contract at Parkhead has run out now, he made as many as 242 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops over the years. However, in the 2019/20 campaign, he didn’t play even once in the Premiership or in the Scottish Cup. That is a reflection of how far down the pecking order he was (via Transfermarkt).
Gordon is now 37 and he might want to play regularly before potentially retiring. It seems unlikely that Celtic are willing to offer him that, judging by how the 2019/20 season panned out, as well their recent contract negotiations with the Scot. The club is currently ‘working’ on a deal to sign Forster and that could once again, relegate Gordon to being second-choice, at best.
So Gordon may be better off not returning to Parkhead. And it appears Celtic fans – or Sermanni at the very least – would certainly love it if the club signs Forster, as he was the club’s first-choice goalkeeper in the 2019/20 season.