One of the toughest parts of a manager’s job is to leave somebody on the bench. In the case of Neil Lennon, it is even harder as he has a squad full of incredible players out of whom he can only put eleven on the pitch. One such player who has got lost in the shuffle this season is veteran Scottish goalkeeper, Craig Gordon.
Gordon made an incredible resurgence after losing almost three years of his career to injuries. Since arriving at Celtic in 2014, he was the undisputed number 1 at Parkhead. But right now he finds himself beneath Fraser Forster in the pecking order and has only managed to sporadic appearances this season. And if he is to have any hope of making it back into the national team, a move away looks like the best option for him. At 36 years of age, time is quickly running out.
Neil Lennon has now given his take on the matter. And although the Celtic boss admitted that he would love for Gordon to remain at the club, his ambitions for first-team football could make the matter impossible as we near the winter transfer window.
Speaking to PLZ Soccer on the matter, Lennon said:
“He’s a player I’d be loath to let go or want to see go out the door because he’s a quality goalkeeper.
“Fraser is the number one currently and if anything happened to him then Craig is a ready-made replacement to step in.
“From a selfish point of view I want him to stay. He might have his own principles and want to play himself.
“It’s a situation not of Craig’s making. He’s a great pro and I get the fact he might want to play more games.”
Craig Gordon would be a huge miss for Celtic. If not anything, his experience is a huge positive for a team that is relatively young. But it looks like he will be much happier playing first-team football somewhere else and Celtic should grant Grant his wish for the years of service that he has given the club.
