Celtic must cut losses and offload senior player who has been constant disappointment

Sat 17 March 2018 17:33, UK

COMMENT

The excellent performance of Celtic stand-in goalkeeper Scott Bain in the Old Firm victory over Rangers has shown that the Hoops need to move on the player that Bain replaced in the starting line-up – Dorus de Vries.

De Vries was set to start in his second Old Firm match until he injured his ankle in training, and Bain, a loan signing from Dundee, proved his worth with two saves in the second half from Alfredo Morelos.

The Hoops now have two good to excellent goalkeepers in their squad, Craig Gordon, who is still recovering from his knee injury, and Bain.

If the Hoops can get Bain to sign at the club next season then de Vries should be sold. The Dutchman was inexplicably handed a one year extension to his contract last season, despite the fact he has performed poorly almost all of the ‘big’ games he has played in for the Bhoys.

The 37-year-old senior player’s most recent calamity came in the 3-0 loss to Zenit in the Europa League, where he completely misjudged a swerving shot by Daler Kuzyaev.

Add to that his poor performance against Barcelona last season, de Vries has showed that he isn’t good enough to be the number one goalkeeper for the Hoops.

All managers have a blind spot and de Vries – who previously worked with Brendan Rodgers at Swansea – seems to be the player who holds the position at Celtic Park.