Former Celtic player Frank McAvennie has been sharing his thoughts on what he thinks a main factor has been in Celtic’s failure to win the SPFL title this season.
Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, McAvennie claimed that the fact that Celtic failed to sign Fraser Forster last summer played a big part in the club’s disappointing season this year.
He said: “I think they wanted him in the summer and he wouldn’t come. So, I don’t know if the fans would be too happy about it.
“I think that was the biggest problem going for 10, they didn’t have a goalkeeper. Somebody went out and bought [Vasilios] Barkas, but no disrespect to the boy, he’s not good enough for Celtic and [Scott] Bain has not done it, he’s not brave enough.
“Look at what Allan McGregor has done for Rangers, he’s basically won the league for them, and I’m not being disrespectful to the rest of the players.
“But Forster won the league for Celtic last season, he won the cup – they were battered by Rangers and Celtic won it 1-0. When you have got a good goalkeeper, that’s what happens. He was worth the money; I don’t know why they didn’t spend it.”
Forster signed to Celtic in 2012 from Newcastle United for £2.25 million after he had spent the two previous years on loan at Parkhead.
In 2014, the 33-year-old, who is currently valued at £3.6 million, signed to his current club Southampton in a deal worth a reported fee of £11.25 million.
Last season saw Forster make 39 appearances for the Hoops across all competitions conceding 28 goals and keeping 17 clean sheets in the process (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Frank McAvennie’s comments on Forster and Celtic’s goalkeeper situation this season…
Given how Celtic have conceded 24 goals in the league so far this season compared to the 19 goals they conceded throughout the entirety of the 2019/20 season, it could be argued that Forster has been a miss for the Hoops this season.
Do you think Celtic would have won the title if they signed Forster last summer?
Yes
No
However, the fact that Celtic have currently scored 23 league goals fewer than they managed to score last season suggests to us that the opposite end of the pitch seems to have been a bigger problem for the Hoops than the goalkeeper situation.
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