I’ve got a thought process during the transfer window when players get linked to Celtic. If the player or agent indicates publicly they are having talks with Celtic then deal isn’t happening. I’d now extend that to contract negotiations making their way to the public domain.
Peter Lawwell would have been so hot under the collar yesterday that the need for a heated driveways would have been redundant.
Now Craig Gordon may have been interviewed for Talksport – of all places, with David Tanner – of all people – under duress of course.
✅ “I am in talks with Hearts.”
🙌 “They’re my boyhood club.”
☘️ “Negotiations with Celtic haven’t been good. There’s still chat to be had
Craig Gordon tells @DavidTannerTV he’s in talks to swap #CelticFC for #Hearts. pic.twitter.com/bOyD6hFdKK
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) June 22, 2020
It certainly looked like one of those hostage videos where the abductor is filming the captive, advising him to make sure he discusses the ransom but also point out he’s being treated even better than at home. All the while the demeanour and presentation of the captive tells another story.
Craig Gordon may look as if he’s been shot down over the desert flying a Tornado at low altitude, but the fact is no-one has seen a barber in over 3 months now, you want to see some of the facial hair and dodgy barnets when I do Zoom meetings at work- and the blokes are looking dishevelled too.
Hopefully I’m not jumping the gun and Talksport haven’t taken to abducting ‘guests’ against their will, due to the fact their shock jock approach to sport radio has scared off any self-respecting athlete from participating, but you’d assume Craig Gordon agreed to the interview under his own free will and answered Tanner’s thinly veiled questions because he chose to – and furthermore was aware of the consequences.
Sadly if Craig Gordon was looking to up the ante in contact negotiations with Celtic he’s blown out. However if he’s looking to ingratiate himself to a new employer – who may be disappointed he ever donned the colours of Celtic – he may just have played a blinder.
Rumours of a two year deal – with an option of a third year – sound crazy for a 37 year old player who has barely played in the previous season, but if you’re Heart of Midlothian you do things differently.
Steven Naismith will testify that age nor injury record are a bar to a lucrative long term contract at Tynecastle. They are football’s equivalent of Help the Aged. The supporters on the other hand may need a little more persuading to allow the prodigal son back into the hold.
So when Gordon told Talksport; “The negotiations haven’t been particularly good, I’ve got to be honest. It has dragged out and I feel it could have been handled an awful lot better”
And follows that with telling the listening Hearts fans: “They’re my boyhood club” you can kind of see the fix is in. Discredit Celtic and tug on the heart stings – no pun intended – and the job’s a good ‘un.
It’s a little sad that Craig Gordon’s time at Celtic is ending this way. It may well be that the contract on offer was on significantly reduced terms than the last, but that it is points to rather different circumstances. His last deal was signed with Chelsea hovering over the player and Gordon was a nailed on first choice goalkeeper performing brilliantly. This time around he’s warming the bench and the clubs circling are St Mirren and Hearts. Not the strongest of bargaining positions.
Add to that Jozo Simunovic and Jonny Hayes have both left the club having contributed significantly more to the first team effort in the last 12 months than Craig Gordon, then it’s clear than some Covid 19 protection is being put in place. Earners not contributing are either surplus to requirements or will need to agree to much reduced terms.
For those who don’t agree it will be ‘thanks for the memories’ from Peter Lawwell. The Celtic Chief Executive doesn’t really do loyalty – Jackie McNamara would testify to that. And in the current climate who could blame him.
Craig Gordon is clearly disappointed, yet he must have known going to the press to go public wasn’t going to twist the arm of his current employer. So it’s clear there were other reasons for agreeing to be interviewed by David Tanner. His choice of media outlet further points in that direction.
What this shouldn’t undermine is what Craig Gordon has achieved in a Celtic shirt. He was a superb performer and certainly in the top three goalkeepers at Celtic over the last 20 years. As an Invincible he will always be welcome back at Celtic Park and he’ll always be afforded the warmest of welcomes.
That now looks like it will all be in the past. Craig Gordon’s future looks to be at his boyhood club.
With a Scotland shirt up for grabs and the security of a long term contract at his age very tempting indeed, you’d have to say he’s making the decision with his head to move to Hearts.
It’s a rather unsatisfactory way to see such a successful contributor draw a line under his Celtic career, but it won’t diminish my view of him as a player. The state of that beard and haircut however may take a little longer to forgive.
Niall J
