‘He made a big decision to leave Celtic’: The Twist No Celtic Fan Wants to See

Hindsight is a great thing, and knowing what we do now, Celtic would NOT have been so hasty to get rid of Craig Gordon if they saw the scenario which has played out in front of them coming.

The invincible goalkeeper is back where it all began at Hearts but there was talks for him to extend his Celtic stay which obviously didn’t work out. Had they at the time, there’s no doubt in my mind, the goalkeeper would be in goals for Celtic on Sunday.

As it happens, he’s tasked with stopping this final treble laden run, a run he helped start and maintain over the last four years. Football throws up these sorts of stories and Craig will likely have a big say on the day as he tries to keep out his old team-mates.

Had the game gone as scheduled, Craig would have been on the bench for Celtic with Fraser Forster between the posts for the club. As it happens, Celtic’s fourth choice goalkeeper, last season, could be in goals for the major final.

Speaking ahead of the Cup Final, Craig’s boss Robbie Neilsen believes the goalkeeper has the added motivation of playing against a club who didn’t really show they wanted to keep him in the summer. It’s a chance to stop Celtic taking the trophy and win another one with Hearts.

“Thankfully we’ve got him,” Neilsen told RecordSport. “He’s been great since day one. And he will be a big part of the game on Sunday. As a back four there is nothing better than having a guy like that behind you.

“He is very vocal and he organises behind you. If he is shouting for it, he is going to come and claim it. The defence has done very well this season and he has been one of the key aspects of that.

“He made a big decision to leave Celtic and come to ourselves in the Championship.

“The first thing was to try and play week in, week out and try to get himself in the Scotland squad. So he’s managed to do that.

“And then to get an opportunity to play in a cup final against the guys who have just let you go is a big motivation for him. So we need to help him make sure he gets a result.”