Chris Sutton believes he has figured out why Celtic’s Craig Gordon has found himself on the bench this year.
Chris Sutton has written in The Record that he feels sorry for Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon, despite a history of the two not seeing eye to eye.
Scott Bain has usurped Gordon as Celtic’s first-choice keeper under Brendan Rodgers in 2019, despite the veteran Scot doing very little wrong during the first half of the season.
In addition to that, the 36-year-old was actually one of the Hoops’ better players in the 1-0 defeat by Rangers prior to the winter break.
Sutton has regularly criticised the Scotland international in recent years, to the point where Gordon hit back and accused the former Bhoys hitman of having an agenda against him in 2017 [The Record].
But the 45-year-old pundit feels that his distribution is the real reason why Rodgers has shunned him since December.
“I have a lot of sympathy for Craig Gordon,” Sutton wrote in The Record.
“I know he’s sometimes felt I had it in for him but that wasn’t the case. I praised him for his displays before the break and thought he made some superb saves against Rangers.
“There is no getting away from the fact his distribution caused a few of those problems and it was only a matter of time before Bain got his chance.”
Bain, in fairness to him, hasn’t put a foot wrong since getting the gloves, but Thursday’s Europa League clash with Valencia will be a huge test.
In terms of the quality of opposition, it might be his toughest game at Celtic to date and it’s fascinating to see how he copes.
Obviously Gordon has plenty of experience in big European games and if Bain were to make a mistake, Rodgers might find himself with some tough questions to answer.
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