Celtic’s Craig Gordon should fear Joe Lewis more than Chris Sutton’s agenda, says David Preece

CRAIG GORDON claims Chris Sutton has an agenda against him, which he pursues from his platform as a pundit with BT Sport.

The Celtic and Scotland keeper’s complaint comes hard on the heels of Kris Commons’ assertion the Hoops were monitoring Aberdeen No. 1 Joe Lewis last season, with a view to bringing him to Celtic Park.

David Preece, a predecessor of Lewis at Pittodrie and now a full-time goalkeeping analyst in the media, has sympathy with Gordon.

However, he insists Gordon could have had no complaint because the Dons player has out-performed his rival over the past 15 months.

“Celtic having had a good look at Joe makes complete sense to me,” he said. “He didn’t have the most impressive of starts, as I recall, but settled quickly and since then has been consistently outstanding.

“Having spent half-a-dozen years with Aberdeen (from 1999 to 2005), I follow the Scottish game closely.

“From what I have seen, I’d say he was definitely the best keeper in the country last season.

“Everyone has off nights, and sadly Joe had one at Fir Park on Thursday.

“I’m not saying that as a negative about Craig. Without a doubt his return to Champions League football – and to the international arena with Scotland after 18 months out of the game injured – is a magnificent story.

“That is extremely rare in any sport and is so for a reason. It is a very tough thing to do. By hanging in there and coming back the way he did, he demonstrated real mental strength.

“Having then done all that, he found his position under threat when Brendan Rodgers was appointed as Celtic manager.

“He demands his goalkeepers are as comfortable as outfield players on the ball, and distribution was not one of Craig’s strengths.

“With Brendan bringing in his own man, Dorus de Vries, it looked like Craig was going to be consigned to being a back-up. That would have been a very backward step for Craig, given everything he’d been through.

“But once again, he dug in and worked really hard in training and turned himself into the type of goalkeeper Brendan wanted.

“From there it was just a case of waiting his chance, which came after the heavy defeat away to Barcelona in the Champions League.

“He grabbed it and has remained in possession pretty much ever since.

“But my view on the respective merits of Craig and Joe Lewis is more based on the development Joe has made. He has represented England through all the youth levels, and is very good from a technical perspective.

“I’m not just speaking about the shots he saves, but the positions he takes up, and how he communicates with and organises his team-mates.

“At 29, he has lots of experience and is playing with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what he’s doing. He played in the English Championship, and was he ever to come back down to England, that would be the very minimum level he’d come in at.

“I don’t actually think that will happen, though, because Aberdeen gave him a new three-year deal last year. That strikes me as very good business.”

Where Preece does feel Gordon is at a disadvantage is in the pairs’ respective work-rates with their clubs.

“Celtic have been very dominant in the domestic game, and it takes a certain type of player to play in goals in those situations,” he said.

“Normal keepers get the chance to get their eye in through games. Obviously you don’t want to be conceding goals or under the cosh, but if you can be busy while keeping a clean sheet, that’s ideal.

“With the sort of possession figures Celtic deal with, you are talking about Craig doing effectively nothing for 70 minutes, then being called upon to make a big save. That takes a special type of concentration, one not that many can sustain.

“Aberdeen are a strong side for sure, but Joe will typically see a lot more action during a match than Craig will.”

Gordon’s mistakes are also likely to be put under a considerable degree more scrutiny, with Harry Kane’s late equaliser in the Scotland-England draw at Hampden a case in point.

“People thought he should have come off his line to grab the ball before it got to Harry Kane. They had a point,” said Preece.

“Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross was decent, but came from a long way back in the pitch.

“Craig would have had a good chance to look at it, and should have come and claimed it.

“But I know from personal experience you can’t get to be a professional goalkeeper without developing a thick skin. If there are any thin-skinned goalies out there, I’d like to meet them.

“There might be some pundits who might have with agendas.

“That’s not me, though. I just try to tell it as I see it.”