Craig Gordon

It is interesting how Gordon has looked so good in recent weeks, today his distribution was spot on. I think the competition from DDV has really spurred him on and I hope he can maintain this level throughout the rest of the season.

 

Glad he is getting his form back. Don't want to see De Vries back in the team. I have seen nothing from De Vries to suggest he should be number 1 ahead of Gordon.

 

Distribution was good today.

Keep it up, Craigy Bhoy.

 

THERE isn’t much that Craig Gordon hasn’t achieved during his football career. He’s got a full collection of domestic medals from his time with Hearts and Celtic, he’s represented Scotland over 40 times, he played in the English Premier League with Sunderland – the fee was, at that time, the highest ever paid by a British club for a goalkeeper – and after a two-year injury nightmare, he’s shown tremendous courage and determination to get back to the highest level, which he did when he joined Celtic in 2014.

Yet, at the age of 33, he hadn’t experienced UEFA Champions League group-stage football. That all changed on Wednesday night when he was in the starting XI for Celtic’s home game against Manchester City.

Having been on the bench for the group-stage opener against Barcelona in the Nou Camp, with Dorus de Vries in possession of the goalkeeper’s jersey, Gordon might have expected to be in the same position when Pep Guardiola’s side visited Celtic Park.

But when the Dutch keeper picked up an injury the previous weekend during the home game against Kilmarnock, Gordon was on hand to replace him at half-time, and he remained between the sticks for the European game, with De Vries still not 100 per cent fit.

And as the famous UEFA Champions League theme music struck up inside Paradise just minutes before the start of what would be a thrilling 3-3 draw, Craig Gordon was able to savour the moment that a football dream came true.

After the game, the Celtic goalkeeper was still on a high, particularly given the game and his performance, as this week’s View found out when we spoke to him…

Is it possible to put into words how that experience was?

It was incredible. It was an unbelievable game. The atmosphere was incredible and it was everything I hoped it would be. It was just a great night. We did well to get a point and we had to score three goals to do it, but it was an incredible game and we’re happy with a point. It was brilliant. I absolutely loved it. To lose three goals is always disappointing but, at the same time, we’ve more than matched the team that’s at the top of the English Premier League and we’ve got to be happy with that.

What was it like to play in that atmosphere?

There were times when there were balls coming over the top and I’m screaming at my defenders as loud as I possibly could to let it go and they just couldn’t hear me – and they’re only 10-15 yards away. It was that loud and you could hear it on the pitch. It was just an incredible atmosphere. We put everything into that game and the backing the fans gave us kept us going right to the end, even when we were hanging on a little bit, throwing bodies in front of everything, but we deserved that point because we put enough into the game to at least deserve that. That’s probably the loudest match I’ve ever played in. It was just a brilliant match and one that the supporters, I’m sure, will remember for a long time.

And the fact you were back in the team shows how quickly things can change?

It is crazy, isn’t it, but that’s football. I’d been training really well and I felt that my performances in training had been really good. I’ve went away and worked really hard over the past four or five weeks and really feel as if I’ve been training quite well, so I expected coming in to do well. I felt confident, I felt ready to play and the 45 minutes probably helped against Kilmarnock, although I wasn’t involved a great deal, but just to be out on the pitch and get a feel for things again. But then to come in to the Man City game, I knew I was going to have to be busy at some point. It was a little later on before we came under a great deal of pressure but thankfully I managed to contribute to a good result.

 

Nice one, Crow!

 

I really want him to do well but it's no secret he's on the decline as a footballer.

 

Another cluster * from gordon...no keeper should get the ball put through his legs from there.....bravo donkey.

 

Nonsense. 6 yards out and blasted! Give the guy a break he had a great game.

 

I'm no gonna slate him for the goal, but his distribution was absolutely atrocious..

 

Wouldn't blame Gordon for that goal but did any of his long balls make anyone?

 

Distribution is woeful. Want a new keeper in January, neither Gordon or de Vries look up to it.

 

Kept it respectable tonight.

Bit harsh slagging his distribution. Most of his kicks were right at Dembele. Just a shame that Moussa didn't win any of them.

 

Poor distribution but made some great saves in the first half. Wasn't a concern tonight imo.

 

Would have been about a 5-0 loss tonight bar for Gordon. Two individual mistakes by Toure and a lack of a functional midfield killed us at this level.Suddenly Brendan has plenty of thinking to do.

 

Thought he could have done better at the first goal. 'Megged at his near post

 

He didn't do much wrong tonight.

Being harsh he could have done better at the first goal.

His distribution wasn't bad. There was never anyone there to fight for a ball. That was the same for all players putting balls into space.

 

shot stopping superb, just cant pass a ball.

 

Up until about a month ago I never really noticed how bad Gordon's distribution was. But see once you become aware of it - HOLY *! It is bad.