Craig Gordon put pen to paper today and signed for the Hoops in a deal that will see him stay with the club for at least two years. Celtic have an option for another further year following that and the 31-year-old is keen to make his mark as the first signing of the Ronny Deila era. Before jetting out to join his new team-mates at their training base in Austria, the new Celt gave an exclusive interview to Celtic TV.
What are your emotions at joining the club? Obviously I’m very happy. It’s taken quite a while as it’s been in the press for a time that the deal was close but I’m delighted to finally get over the line and I’m looking forward to starting training and playing.
Why did you want to join the club? It’s an absolute no-brainer really. When a club the size of Celtic comes in for you it’s very difficult to turn down. It’s a great opportunity for me coming back from injury to play at this level at a club as big as this and it was really something that I wanted to do as soon as I heard they were interested.
It’s been a difficult spell for you in recent years with injuries, how determined are you to prove you can still compete at the top level? That’s my next challenge and that’s what I’m looking forward to. I’ve spent a couple of years away from the game trying to get myself to this point and now the next challenge begins as I try to get back into full-time football and playing week-in-week-out and playing as many games as I can. That’s is the next challenge and proving myself all over again so it’s one I’m looking forward to.
Are you relishing battling with Fraser Forster and the other goalkeepers for a place between the sticks? There’s a great standard of goalkeepers to be coming in to work with and it’s good for me to be coming back from an injury lay-off in to that kind of company, so I’ll look forward to training with them and battling it out to see who can get that place.
And are you looking forward to working with goalkeeping coach Stevie Woods? Definitely, I’ve spoken to Stevie a number of times over the last few weeks and it’s been well-documented that I trained with him at the end of last season. I was very impressed with his training and everything he had to say and his philosophies on goalkeeping. So that’s also a big reason why I decided to come to Celtic. I’m going to be well looked after at a huge club and get the opportunity to get my career back on track.
You played at Celtic Park a number of times as an opposition keeper – how intimidating was that, and how much would it mean to you to run out in Paradise with the home support behind you? It’s a great stadium, especially when it’s full and the fans get behind the team. It’s a great atmosphere to play in and the European nights are something special. There was always a big rivalry between Hearts and Celtic and the atmosphere was always very good in those games. But to now be experiencing it on this side and also with the opportunity to play in European games and have that support on my side is a big opportunity for me.
At 31, do you believe you are entering your prime as a goalkeeper? I hope so, I feel I’ve still got a few years left. I’ve seen a lot of keepers, especially down south, going on to nearly 40 and sometimes beyond so hopefully I’ve got a good few years left in me yet and I can still reach the heights of where I was before and better.
You will immediately head off to the training camp in Austria, how are you looking forward to pre-season and our European qualifiers? It’s not far away now. I was desperate to get this done as soon as possible to give myself the best possible opportunity to train with the squad and get ready for what is a huge start to the season to try and ensure that we get through the first few rounds of the qualifiers.
What are you most excited about as you get your Celtic career underway? Getting back to playing football as it will be a challenging league this season, it’s getting back to playing and back at a really high level. That’s something that a lot of people probably thought was beyond me at some stage over the last couple of years. So I’m looking forward to proving everybody wrong in getting back to playing football and playing for a big club.
It’s a new era in Paradise with Ronny Deila taking charge, what do you know about the new Hoops boss and his football philosophy? I spoke to him about signing and what he wanted from me and he was very impressive when I did speak to him in what he had to say. So he seems very professional and very organised and I think it will be good to start working with him out on the training ground
Call-up sweetens Gordon's grief CRAIG Gordon briefly struggled to keep his emotions in check as the strains of Handel's Zadok the Priest rang out over the Parkhead public address system on Tuesday night. The 31-year-old is sorely disappointed that he won't hear Uefa's Champions League theme on a more regular basis. The Celtic goalkeeper, formerly of Hearts and Sunderland, has never played in the group stage of Europe's most prestigious club competition and despite his best efforts in midweek he is no nearer to ticking that career box... http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/foo ... f.25192385
Craig Gordon delighted to back in the Scotland reckoning PROUD and privileged to represent his country, Craig Gordon is thrilled at returning to the international fold once again. The Celtic No.1 was rewarded for his superb start to the season at the Scottish champions by being named in the Scotland squad for this week’s European Championship qualifier against Germany. At times, the 31-year-old wondered if he would ever add to his 40 caps for the national side as his football career hung in the balance due to serious injury. But after two tortuous years without employment, Gordon signed for the Hoops in the summer and swiftly showed the form between the sticks which once made him a British record signing for a goalkeeper.
Also ich finds schon ein wenig arg übertrieben. Klar hatte Gordon hier einen sehr guten Start, vor allem vor dem Hintergrund, dass er nichts gekostet hat. ABER er stand jetzt erst ein paar Spiele im Tor und man sollte erstmal noch 2-3 Monate abwarten und danach schauen ob er seine Leistung konstant gebracht hat. Bei Fraser hatte ich immer ein gutes Gefühl, wenn er im Tor stand. Sei es bei Ligaspielen in denen er nur wenig gefordert war aber dann in den wenigen Aktionen zur Stelle war oder in der Champions League in der er auch öfter mal richtig unter Beschuss stand. Außerdem muss man abwarten ob das Knie mit zunehmender Belastung nicht doch ein Reaktion zeigt, was natürlich keiner hofft.
Herzlichen GlĂĽckwunsch zum 32. Geburtstag, Craig! Du hast alle Erwartungen ĂĽbertroffen und machst eine Riesen-Saison. Gottseidank bist Du schon so alt, dass es im GerĂĽchte-Thread sehr ruhig zugeht bei Dir
I would love to make Craig Gordon a Celt for life, says manager Ronny Deila The Celtic keeper signed a two-year contract when, last summer, the Hoops gave him the big break he craved following two years out of the game with injury. That deal still has 18 months to run, with the Parkhead club holding a further year's option.
Wäre eine schöne Sache! Ein ganz starker Rückhalt, der es tatsächlich fertig gebracht hat Forster nahezu gleichwertig zu ersetzen, was er am Wochenende wieder mal gezeigt hat war absolut beeindruckend! Und wegen seines Alters und des Geldes, das er in der EPL bereits jahrelang verdient hat, sehe ich tatsächlich die Chance, dass er die letzten Jahre seiner Kariere lieber in der Heimat verbringt, was für uns noch einige Jahre Stabilität und Konstanz auf dieser Position bedeuten würde.
Er ist Schotte bei uns die Nummer 1 und wir haben ihm die Chance gegeben bei Null anzufangen. FĂĽr mich fast noch besser als Forster, denn am Ball kann er deutlich mehr. Bin total happy mit unserer Nummer 1.
Season 2016/17 Treble Winner Season 2017/18 Treble Winner Season 2018/19 Treble Winner Season 2019/20 SPL Champion, League Cup Winner
Craig Gordon Thanks Celtic Fans for Support ...“The fans didn’t chant my name for the reasons I wanted them to. But it was a great reaction from them. I need to thank them for that”... http://www.celtsarehere.com/craig-gordo ... r-support/
Craig Gordon is Celtic’s No.1 CRAIG Gordon has capped off a stellar first season at Celtic by getting his hands on the No.1 jersey for the Scottish champions. The Scotland internationalist currently wears No.26 for the Bhoys but will move into the No.1 shirt for the start of next season after his saves and performances in goal helped the club win a league and League Cup double in his first year at Paradise.
Ach klasse; freut mich sehr für ihn und natürlich Celtic! Schön mit anzusehen wie er sich nach Fast-Sportinvalidität zurück gekämpft hat und jetzt wieder im Kreise der Spitzenkeeper vertreten ist. Well done!
Ich glaube, dass man Fraser mehr als gut ersetzt hat - natĂĽrlich wird Artur unerreichbar bleiben