Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson has commended Celtic shot-stopper Fraser Forster for reviving his career during his loan spell at Parkhead this season.
The 31-year-old, who previously had a four-year stint with the Hoops in the 2010s, returned to the club on loan from Southampton six months ago and has been Neil Lennon’s undisputed first choice between the sticks ever since.
Forster has already managed far more appearances for Celtic this term than he had in the previous two years at his parent club and, speaking to Football Insider, Robinson praised his fellow English goalkeeper for the manner in which he has gone from Premier League outcast to literally the first name on Celtic’s team sheet.
The ex-Tottenham ‘keeper said: “He’s turned his career around, he went to Celtic with the idea of finding a little bit more of that if you like. He was completely frozen out at Southampton, nowhere near the squad, nowhere near the team, didn’t play after signing a new five-year deal and has been out the picture for the last two years.
“He’d completely fallen out of love with it and had lost his way, going back to Celtic seems to be a spiritual home for him, he’s refound his form, he’s replaced Craig Gordon which is no mean feat because he was going well.”
Robinson is absolutely right to commend Forster for reviving what had seemed a flagging career by moving to Celtic for the season. The 31-year-old has not only commanded a consistent starting berth but has excelled throughout the campaign, conceding just 23 goals in 35 matches (0.66 per game) and keeping 15 clean sheets (42.86% of games).
Forster has also shown a tendency to come good in high-stakes situations, as illustrated by his penalty save in last week’s 1-1 Europa League draw in Copenhagen. That was his fourth time keeping out a spot kick this season, having also done so in the 1-o win over Rangers in the Betfred Cup final. It isn’t just in terms of penalties that he has thrived, either – his save from Danilo Cataldi in the dying minutes of the 2-1 home win over Lazio in October was phenomenal.
Robinson also rightly alludes to Forster’s feat in relegating Gordon to the role of backup despite the veteran stopper performing admirably prior to the 31-year-old’s loan arrival. Gordon let in only 14 goals in 18 Premiership games last season (0.78 per game) and kept clean sheets in nine of those (50%), while in the current campaign he has a record of four goals conceded and three clean sheets in six matches (0.67 goals per game, 50% clean sheet ratio).
Such has been Forster’s impact at Celtic that Gordon has publicly stated his desire to leave the club in order to regain first team football (as per The Scottish Sun), which tells you that Robinson is quite right to salute the Southampton loanee for turning his fortunes around so drastically.
Celtic fans, what did you make of Robinson’s views on Forster? Have your say by commenting below!
