Craig Gordon. One Hundred Games

Broadsword looks back at the first 100 games , and the story behind Celtic’s number 1

Craig Lazarus Gordon

Another Celtic player is at the gates of the century club. Craig Gordon has hit 100 appearances and it would be churlish not to offer some review and analysis; especially when you see some of the others we write about…

Anyway, I digest, I’ve always had a peculiar interest in the career of Gordon as it said that he beat a very good friend of mine, to a professional contract, when he came through the ranks at Hearts. I think Jim Jeffries et al may have made the right call there.

My initial impressions of Gordon were that he was a good instinctive goalkeeper yet he was possibly the most angular person I had ever seen – until I saw Peter Crouch play. Gordon started well and it seemed as if he became a mainstay of the Hearts team at a ridiculously young age and the stats would seem to back that up – at the age of 21/22 he made well over 30 starts for Hearts. I can’t be arsed looking it up but let’s just say that he took over from Henry Smith, decided not to go with the perm and established himself quickly, with admirers noticing.

He was always a goalie I was concerned about us facing – that may have been misplaced if you can recall the game at Celtic Park when he chucked in two towards the end of the game – I think Jiri Jarosik had some involvement in scaring him? There’s also the joyous New Year game of 2006 where we came back from 2 down to beat them in their own midden when Hearts thought it would be prudent to assume that Stephen McManus was invisible. But he was actually pretty good and was the Scotland no. 1 as well, much to the chagrin of his competition at the time, possibly Hamish McAlpine or someone like that. Hearts were a midden then in terms of ownership. Romanov’s methods were not to the taste of many and Gordon was part of the ‘Riccarton Three’ who would all go on to play for Celtic, just in case you didn’t know. In saying that, it is worth pointing out that he came up for a corner against us, like a fud.

Then the rumours started. I had heard a whisper that he was bound for Kinning Park but then that would have involved meeting a valuation and not paying over 25 years which, lamentably, would not be possible. England was always going to be the destination, and despite some murmurs of Aston Villa (who were a functioning football team then) it was Sunderland who won the prize. For £9m. The record fee for a British goalkeeper at the time. Had Roy Keane gone mad? Were Sunderland that rich? Had Gordon ever seen Sunderland in daylight? Anyhow, it seemed to start really well for him – he was apparently applauded by the rest of the squad after his first training session – maybe they just didn’t know what a goalie was beforehand? He was playing well and attracting even more attention. Buffon and Wenger were very complimentary of him, and the rumours of a move to Arsenal started and grew and grew. He was also accredited with ‘the greatest save in the history of the Premier League universe thing’ with some lovely goal denial techniques to thwart the goal machine that is Zat Knight, then of Bolton. There were of course some blips – Roy Keane wasn’t a big fan of getting pumped 7-1 against Everton and decided to give him a three game holiday. Jermain Defoe just plain didn’t like him and broke his arm. Then his knee started to give him proper grief.

At the end of the 2011-12 season, with recent reported interest from Arsenal and Celtic, Sunderland released Craig Gordon. The chat was that his knee was goosed – I believe that is medical term and that he wouldn’t be able to play competitive football again. This appeared to be stood up when he appeared as a goalkeeping coach at Dumbarton as well as featuring on Sportscene with a degree of regularity. I was firmly convinced that he was done for when I read that he was training with Rangers. Now, when Ally McCoist doesn’t offer you a contract; bear in mind he signed Kevin Kyle, then it must be pretty galling.
Two years after his last game, with Southampton getting ready to perform their yearly raid, the stories about him going to Celtic started to do the rounds. Initially there was some debate as to whether this was in a coaching or playing capacity however, once people twigged that the sale of Fraser Forster could guarantee a certain bonus then no further thought was required. Here’s the slightly peculiar thing. Craig Gordon signed for Celtic on June 5th, Ronny Deila signed on June 6th, so I’ll be friar tucked if I can state who actually signed him. There was obvious concern about this given the above info. My first impression of Gordon was how bored he looked as he left Murrayfield early as well during the game where we beat Legia Warsaw 3-0…

I thought he assuaged any fears about his injuries or his ability in the Europa League group stage games. He looked steady and capable of the spectacular. Domestically, he was outstanding at times. He seemed to have an excellent understanding with Denayer and Van Dijk. The only real disappointment last season was when he had a bit of a time of it against Inter at home. That aside I thought he was great and I was very happy when he signed up until 2018.

This season, like many other things, has not been so great. I wouldn’t say he’s been awful or anything close but it’s clear that he has missed having a good, solid, regular central defensive unit in front of him. As an aside I’ve also been impressed with how he has come across. After the Malmo debacle, I think Deila, granted English isn’t his first language, didn’t do anyone any favours with the use of the term ‘scared’. Gordon was measured and correct in refuting this. The guy’s played at a good level, domestically and internationally and has been a very decent piece of business all round for Celtic.

The only thing I can find missing from his CV is Champions League experience, who knows…