Former Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon has picked up the Scottish Football Writers Association (SFWA) Player of the Year for the third time having also winning the award in 2006 and 2015, and the big fella feels beating the likes of Callum McGregor and Cameron Carter-Vickers – aye you try getting your head round that one too folks – to the award is justification for the gamble Gordon made swapping a contract offer – on much reduced terms granted – at Celtic, to drop down to the Championship initially with Hearts.
Gordon, as reported in the Edinburgh Evening News admits to a final season with the Hoops that was far from enjoyable, as he played understudy to Fraser Forster, before eventually deciding first club Hearts was a better option than the possibility of playing second fiddle to Forster again the following season.
“The motivation was to come back and show everybody I could still do it. I had spent a year on the bench (at Celtic), I didn’t particularly enjoy it and wanted to finish my career playing games.
“You never know if you will get the chance to come back here. Somebody could have been in possession of the jersey and doing well. It just so happened I was coming out of contract so it was a great opportunity for me to come back and get playing.
“At the back of my mind, what I wanted to do was get back playing for Scotland and put pressure on that No.1 position, also get promoted and try to get Hearts into Europe. That was everything that was discussed when I came back. That was the plan. I’m backed by players and management and it feels good being here. It’s nice to be loved by the fans and have that respect, knowing they will be behind you no matter what.”
In the end things may well have worked out differently for Craig Gordon had he hung around. Fraser Forster, having apparently indicated a willingness to return to Celtic, instead decided to fight for his first team place at Southampton, and with Celtic already having had their contract offer for Gordon declined soon went into the market for Vasilis Barkas to the tune of £4.5m.
Barkas of course is a move that simply hasn’t panned out and had Gordon hung around at Celtic it wouldn’t have been a big task to take the gloves from the Greek ‘keeper. If he had his Celtic career may have lasted longer than it did – and Celtic’s concession of goals may well have improved last year.
That said Gordon won promotion with Hearts and now has European football to look forward to next season, as well as establishing himself as Scotland No1 ahead of the possibility of a World Cup place in Qatar at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Celtic have since signed former England number one Joe Hart, and there will be few fans who would consider Hearts have the better end of that deal. Makes you wonder why Joe Hart wasn’t in with a shout of the SFWA award doesn’t it? Well, when you consider it’s an award from the Scottish mainstream media hacks it’s probably no surprise Hart didn’t make the cut, or that Callum McGregor and Cameron Carter-Vickers also missed out.
As Paul Larkin once noted, ‘Anyone but Celtic’.
Niall J
