Celtic have sealed the signing of Dundee keeper Scott Bain as he joins the Hoops on loan until the end of the season. The 26-year-old was serving a loan spell at Hibernian but is now going to join up with the Celtic squad at Celtic Park. Scott Allan of Celtic is expected to head to Hibernian to replace Scott Bain.
Celtic suffered a huge blow to their campaign after Craig Gordon went down with a knee injury in the 1-0 win over Hibernian last Saturday. The 35-year-old has been ruled out for 12 weeks and Brendan Rodgers is left with Dorus De Vries as a second option other than an inexperienced Ross Doohan.
When asked about Gordon’s injury the former Liverpool boss was quoted, “Sad news for him and for us. But of course, we will need to have that cover for someone to come in and support Dorus de Vries, so that is something that we are looking at. It depends on availability, it could be the purchase of a goalkeeper (or a loan) we would have to wait and see.”
The entire irony rises from Rodgers’ decision to send Conor Hazard out on loan to Scottish Championship side, Falkirk less than a week ago. The manager sanctioned the move in hopes of allowing the youngster to receive crucial first team experience, something he could have earned with Celtic had he stayed back. However, with Bain in the side, Celtic will breathe a sigh of relief at having at least one senior custodian in the side.
However, Rodgers will be worried about the consequences of having a keeper who was sent out on loan by his parent club. While loan moves are believed to be the modern day technique used by clubs to help their off form players get back into the right track or help the young ones develop, the dark truth of it remains the same; the player is simply not good enough yet to cut it at the present club.
Moreover, while mistakes committed by other players can go unnoticed or even ignored, a keeper’s misjudgment often leads to the opposition scoring and thereby changing the course of the match. The game of the custodian is dependent on very fine few moments and a ton of nerves. His game is more in the mind than anywhere else.
Confidence for a keeper to blossom is crucial and a loss in trust of the manager or the team can ruin their careers way more significantly than for players in other positions. Hence Rodgers might have a tough time convincing Bain to perform at the top level for the next three months at Celtic.
