NO GOING BACK
Hero keeper shoots down Southampton recall fears
FRASER FORSTER has revealed he’s had no contact with anyone at Southampton since returning to Celtic on loan.
And the keeper dismissed fears he could be recalled to St Mary’s in January, insisting he’s at Hoops for the season.
Forster has rediscovered top form in
IT was hailed by some as the greatest save by a Celtic keeper in the modern era.
But Fraser Forster doesn’t even rate it as the best he made in the space of just five minutes.
The injury-time wonder stop to repel a Danilo Cataldi rocket in last month’s epic Europa League victory over Lazio had onlookers gasping in awe – and the Italian press lamenting the “miracle of expired time”.
But a more routine looking block to deny Marco Parolo moments earlier is what gave the giant keeper the sense of satisfaction that had been sadly missing from his life for the best part of two years.
Put the two saves together – along with the rocking Parkhead atmosphere that greeted the final whistle moments later – and Forster says you get an adrenalin surge so great it almost erases the 18 months of agony at Southampton that preceded his loan switch back to Celtic.
The Englishman, 31, insists that moment is the greatest of his career and proof that his moving back to Glasgow had been the right call.
Recalling the last-gasp save against the Serie A giants, Forster said: “I actually thought the save before that was better.
“Given the circumstances and the timing in the game, it was pretty much the last kick of the ball, everything around it made it a bigger save than it was.
“When you chat about appreciating playing again and whatever, that moment is probably up there with the best in my career.
“It was an actual moment where you are like, ‘that’s why you play football’.
“With the 18 months before, stuff I’d had to deal with, stuff I’d been through, that was probably the first moment when I was like, ‘that’s why I’m here, that’s what I’ve missed’.
“It’s impossible to say how good that feeling is. Just adrenalin, relief, a feeling you are back.
“You don’t get that feeling in any other aspect of life and after the previous 18 months, to have that feeling back was something special.
“Probably, if I could pick one feeling out of my whole career, that would be the moment that I appreciate the most.
“I always knew I could play at this level.
“But just as a one-off feeling, having not played and to come back and be playing, you know 100 per cent you’ve done the right thing. Those European nights are special.
“The atmosphere and everything to do with it – scoring so late in the game to go 2-1 up, then to make the save, it was just something very special.”
The goalkeeper admits losing grip of his first-team spot and then falling right out of the picture at Southampton amounted to the hardest spell of his career.
There’s clearly anger there but Forster prefers to focus on the positives and driving Celtic towards glory at home and abroad.
He said: “I thought last season I was training well and doing everything I could to be pushing to get into the right place.
“But I never really got that opportunity to get back into the team.
“Being back here I have that chance to play games and that is what you need.
“I never lost that belief in myself that I was a good keeper but you need to be able to go out and show people that you are still a good keeper.
“You only get that chance by going out and playing games. That is what has been brilliant here. They believe in me and they have given me that opportunity.”
Forster admits that he has missed the edge of the Old Firm rivalry and the pressure to win every game – especially as he targets his first treble.
And he said: “It is one of the big things up here – the demand on you. The pressure on you to win.
“You do miss that when you go down south because it is a different team and a
different league and the goals are different.
“It would be a great thing to be involved in [winning a Treble]. You look at what the lads have achieved in the last few years and it has been fantastic.
“Very few players actually get to compete and go out to win stuff so to come up here and do that it would be the dream.”
Forster has slipped back into the groove at Celtic as if he had never been away.
And for that he thanks the club’s goalkeeper coach Stevie Woods as well as manager Neil Lennon.
Forster added: “Stevie understands players. His sessions are great but he understands the mental side of the game too.
“He knows what makes each player tick. He’s worked with some incredible keepers during his time here.
“He has a fantastic record and he’s definitely up there with the best I have worked with.
“He took me from a League One keeper and turned me into an England international.
“I would love to get back in there [with England]. But it’s out of my hands.
“I just need to play as well as I can and force someone else into making a decision.”
The demand on you, the pressure to win – you miss that down south
FRASER FORSTER ON THE EDGE OF OLD FIRM RIVALRY