I’M LOOKING OUT FOR No.1
Lennon gives Gordon his big opportunity to challenge Bain for the goalkeeping jersey
BRENDAN RoDgERs liked his Celtic goalkeeper to kick the ball accurately from feet. Neil Lennon’s only stipulation is that he saves the ball.
For that reason, predictions of Craig gordon’s demise as Parkhead No1 now look premature.
In Estonia’s national stadium this evening, the former scotland keeper will make his first Celtic start since December 29 when his reward for being his side’s best performer in a hapless 1-0 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox was the axe.
Rodgers regarded the ability to distribute the ball accurately to team-mates as a key tenet of his attacking blueprint — and clearly felt scott Bain did it better.
‘It’s far less of a factor for me,’ conceded his fellow Northern Irishman Lennon yesterday.
‘I like my goalkeepers to keep the ball out of the net. And I’ve got two who are very, very good at that.
‘Craig has really impressed me in training and in the bounce games that we’ve played — and scott has been brilliant for me. since I came in, he’s been absolutely outstanding.’
All of this raises an obvious question. on saturday, Celtic begin the defence of their league championship crown at home to st Johnstone. Fully recovered from a knee injury and determined to fight for his Parkhead career, gordon now has a 50-50 chance of recovering his place in goal.
Asked how he plans to reach a final decision, Lennon admitted that he won’t pre-judge the issue.
‘Probably gut instinct as we go along — and stevie Woods (the goalkeeping coach) will be important in that as well.’
For gordon, insult was added to injury last season.
The price of being dropped for Celtic after restricting Rangers to one goal in the New Year game — which marked Rodgers’ first defeat in 13 old Firm encounters — was the additional loss of his scotland jersey.
In both instances, Bain stole the crown and justified it with a string of solid performances.
signed up on a hefty contract, however, 36-year-old gordon remains at Parkhead and is hell-bent on reclaiming his status as No 1.
Asked if the former Hearts and sunderland goalie was now his second choice, Lennon chose his words carefully.
‘I wouldn’t say that, no, it’s too early for me to make that assessment.
‘He didn’t play when I came in due to a knee problem, but he’s over that now and he’s training well, so we’ll see how we go with the two of them. It’s something that we’ll gauge as we go along.
‘I’m not going to treat scott Bain badly. If he’s performing well, as he has done, then it’s not a difficult thing to keep the momentum going that way.
‘I don’t want to turn this into a p ****** match between the two of them. I don’t want to put any extra pressure on either of them.
‘I’ve got the luxury of having two very good goalkeepers at the minute and, if called upon, I’m sure either of them will come in and do a terrific job for me.’
How much of a test gordon receives against Nomme Kalju tonight remains to be seen.
The Estonian champions were barely seen as an attacking force in glasgow last week.
Duty-bound to restore some national pride after a thumping 5-0 first-leg defeat in the east end of glasgow, captain Max Ugge had a smile on his face when he expressed hope of his team scoring six goals.
No-one believes that it’s likely or plausible but Celtic’s manager would prefer to take no chances.
‘Complacency is your enemy, obviously,’ said Lennon.
‘We want to come here and win the game. I think it’s important for momentum.
‘Even small things like the co-efficient. That’s not in the forefront of my mind but I want us to come here and win — and there’s no reason why we can’t.
‘It’s important that we play well, whether that be for the short-term or the long-term.
‘some of them (the players) are itching to play. We’ve got (olivier) Ntcham back as well now and he’ll be looking for game-time.
‘They are quality players. We’re talking about Craig gordon here, scotland’s No1 for a long, long time.
‘so, it’s not as if we are taking the tie lightly. We’re just giving some good players who haven’t had the opportunity to play a chance to play.’
As well as gordon and £7million defender Christopher Jullien, Ukrainian winger Marian shved could see some involvement after a stuttering start to his Celtic career. ‘He has had a good pre-season but just before (the tie with) sarajevo he had an adductor strain, unfortunately,’ said Lennon. ‘He is just coming back into it now. It’s good having another body there.’ Rejecting reports from England of an interest in Newcastle United goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, the Parkhead boss was equally dismissive of noises emanating from inside Ibrox stadium. Bemused by claims from Liverpool loan-signing sheyi ojo that Rangers are a better team than Celtic, Lennon simply shrugged.
‘I don’t know what it’s based on but he is entitled to his opinion,’ said the Northern Irishman. ‘It just washes over us. We are here to play in the Champions League.
‘We’ve had a great start to this tie, so it doesn’t matter what people say. We just get on with what we are doing.
‘I don’t think our players have to justify themselves in any way, shape or form.
‘To be fair to them, over the last few years they’ve done that very well. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of it (that 22-year-old ojo had made the claim) and, again, the kid is entitled to his opinion.’