Artur Boruc, the best Celtic keeper in my lifetime…

Happy birthday to Artur Boruc, the one and only holy goalie who turned 44 today. Artur was a class act, he was a wind up merchant and he suffered no fools, but most importantly he was a top class goalkeeper. I’m the same age as Artur and like most folk my age i haven’t been privileged to see many decent players between the sticks in my lifetime.

The 80s and 90s were poor in terms of the goalkeeping position. Pat Bonner served the club well, but he wasn’t what you would call ‘top class’ and the least said about Gordon Marshall the better. Jonathan Gould and Stewart Kerr were steady and reliable but nothing more. Rab Douglas was a great character, but just fell short of being considered top quality.

David Marshall looked like he was going to be the next best thing, but sadly he didn’t live up to his early potential, but then Artur arrived and it all changed. We finally had a top class goalie. It wasn’t stretching it to say that Artur could have played for the biggest sides in Europe in his prime, he was that good.

He done it domestically and more importantly he done it in Europe, who could ever forget his penalty saves against Man United and Spartak Moscow? At international level he done it for Poland at major tournaments, he was first class and he produced the goods at the highest level of all.

Artur bought into everything Celtic and he was one of us as well as doing the business on the park. He was a frightening presence and his shot stopping ability was world class. We would go on to see Fraser Forster between the sticks and of course we currently have Joe Hart, two guys who are England internationals. Both are top quality, but they aren’t as good as Artur in my opinion.

Many Happy returns Artur.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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