The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Gordon would have expected to do better
It’s hard to remember a week when goalkeepers have been talked about as much as this one. Both Craig Gordon and Joe Hart have come in for a lot of criticism after the Scotland-England match. Some people are saying all four goals were keeper mistakes. I’d probably say there were three. Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shot was one Craig would have expected to keep out but that’s not the goal everyone is talking about.
I can understand why Craig hasn’t said it publicly but deep down he will know he could have done better for the injury-time goal which meant Scotland didn’t get the win we all thought we were going to get after Leigh Griffiths had done his bit.
The last thing I want to do is fillet another keeper but a ball shouldn’t be dropping at Harry Kane’s feet that close to the goal after a pass that has travelled that sort of distance.
He wasn’t the only one at fault, of course.
Stuart Armstrong chose the wrong option and our centre-backs were far too deep but goalies know they are always the ones in the spotlight.
I think Craig has said that he thought Kane was going to head it but I still don’t think that’s a reason to not come out.
He should have been trying to punch it and if he couldn’t get there, shut Kane down or even take him out if that was the last resort.
A penalty and a sending off at that stage of the game would have been better than a meat and drink goal for a striker of Kane’s quality.
Craig is normally Mr Coolness and that’s the big thing I like about him as a keeper.
But he didn’t look as calm as usual on Saturday.
He’ll still be in goal when the Lithuania game comes round in September, though.
I think it was harsh on David Marshall to be dropped for Craig in November.
He’d done well for Scotland. But Gordon Strachan was obviously desperate to get Craig back in.
He’ll not have changed his mind after Saturday.
Joe Hart is probably getting even more flak than Craig but I think the criticism has been over the top.
He showed Sparky too much of the goal for the first free-kick but the second wasn’t his fault.
These free-kicks get harder and harder to save with the balls getting lighter and lighter.
I can remember speaking to a guy from one of the ball manufacturing companies. He told me that they don’t want us saving them. They want to see their name on the ball when it’s in the back of the net! Unforgettable free-kicks They might not have won the game but wee Sparky’s free-kicks will never be forgotten.
The best way I can describe him is a lovable wee punk who just wants to score goals.
Never mind taking the free-kicks at Dundee, he wanted to take everything. He’d have taken my bye-kicks if I’d let him.
Hopefully, this is just the start of it for Leigh in a Scotland shirt.
If anything, it looked like he was trying too hard to score before.
Now he’s off the mark the pressure has gone and we’ll see the best of him because of that.
Hopefully there will be a few more goals to get us into the play-offs.
They might not have won the game but wee Sparky’s free-kicks will never be forgotten