Celtic will today close the deal for Notts Forest keeper Dorus De Vries, in a move which heightens the suspicion that there is literally nothing Brendan Rodgers does not see and which he will not act on, in the best interests of the team.
For a few months now, some Celtic sites have buzzed with the question of just how reliable Craig Gordon is between the sticks.
He has his defenders, that’s for sure, but he has critics too and they are of the view that there should be no sacred cows in a team like Celtic.
No one player should be beyond reproach, none should be considered undroppable.
Logan Bailly has not shown us that he can challenge Gordon for the jersey and nothing is worse for a professional player than to be virtually alone in his position, knowing that his place on the team sheet is ironclad. Even the best player will get complacent over time.
None of this is to say that De Vries has been brought in to replace Craig Gordon; at 35 he’s very much a stop-gap signing, one who will do this season but who’s not going to take Gordon’s jersey in the long term. That task will fall to someone else, perhaps someone to be purchased in the run up to next season.
But for now, his place at the club will provide Craig with the one thing he needs above all else; competition.
Someone to breathe down his neck.
Brendan Rodgers must get huge credit for this signing. He has been in the job only a few months and he’s spotted one of the less obvious holes in the team.
Gordon is capable of turning in outstanding displays but he can also be a little erratic; nevertheless, it would never have dawned on lesser managers to make signing a keeper a priority when we have a selection of them in the squad already. It’s all well and good for the guys in the stands to grumble, but the manager is the guy who has to justify spending the money and talk to the players in training every day. Gordon is an experienced international.
Bringing in another keeper to quite obviously keep him on his toes is a ballsy move, and not without risks. They don’t bother Brendan Rodgers.
The football we played the other night was the best since the Tommy Burns era and any doubt those on the board might have had about letting Brendan spend money will have been erased by the displays so far from Toure, Sinclair and Dembele, his signings up to now. They have been brilliant, with the former Aston Villa man, in particular, standing out and looking as if he will provide us with bags of entertainment and a potent threat in front of goal.
I have no doubt at all that big De Vries will be just as successful.
After all, he won Notts Forest “player of the year” last season. He’s not coming here to warm the bench.
Welcome, Dorus, to the greatest club in world football.
In Brendan We Trust.
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