homer
Well-Known Member
It's gonna be fun at the back this year...........http://www.etims.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=897&Itemid
Rab Douglas - Out To Leicester City
Contributed by Kiwi Mick Monday, 27 June 2005
Celtic don’t do good goalkeepers…but if they did, er, it’s fair to say that Rab Douglas would likely have left the club a wee while ago. Put it this way, in my Celtic-supporting lifetime, probably only the young version of Packie Bonner qualifies as a ‘keeper we could rely on. And even then, many would have had serious reservations about Bonner.
Rab Douglas has given us nearly five years of dedicated commitment and service, but the reality is that even during his final season at Celtic Park the former Brickie was still struggling to cement (haw haw) his place in the side. That just about says it all.
That he WAS considered our top ‘keeper for much of that five-year period, speaks volumes about the lack of genuine competition he faced for the No.1 jersey…young David Marshall perhaps being only a very recent exception.
It was notable that late last season Martin O’Neill issued a statement to the effect that Marshall would be the top man going forward into the 2005/06 season. That revelation came at a time when Rab’s contract was being allowed to expire without any sign of fresh negotiations taking place. The writing was on the wall for Douglas - he knew it, O’Neill knew it, and Craig Levein at Leicester City knew it.
Fast forward to a few weeks back, when Douglas confirmed what had already been widely hinted at - he was off to join the ever-growing number of ex-SPL freebies presently plying their trade at Levein’s Championship outfit. At 33, he should still have a good couple of years to make a name for himself in the Midlands.
Douglas was signed from Dundee for a fee of £1.5million four months into the MON regime. Initially he was seen as the probable long-term replacement for the by-then regularly faltering Jonathan Gould. At the very least he would be an adequate back-up option – a necessity for O’Neill at that time thanks the unreliability of the perennially-injured Russki Dmitri Kharine and the rarely-sighted Stewart Kerr.
Rab’s time at the club was a mixture of highs and lows. The main gripe most supporters would have about Douglas was his inability to cope in the biggest matches that came his way – namely those against Rangers and more specifically, his less than impressive performance during the UEFA Cup Final in Seville.
Douglas had been with the club only a month when he experienced his first setback against the Huns and it came in the form of a 5-1 reverse at Ibrox in November 2000. Douglas was faulted for at least a couple of those goals and it was the first warning sign we had that – for a man of his stature – he was very ordinary when it came to dealing with crosses.
A failure to command his area was a problem throughout his time at Celtic, and to be perfectly frank, for a ‘keeper playing at the level he did, a complete lack of discernable improvement in this facet of his game bordered on the criminal.
That wasn’t the only area where he let himself (and us) down when it came to those matches against Rangers. Another bad moment came during the 2002/03 season when on one occasion (I’m struggling to recall which specific match) he allowed a weak(ish) Mikel Arteta speculator to slide under his body. In much the same fashion as when Gregory Vignal nailed him in an equally critical encounter last term… (there’s more – but I’ll spare you).
His poor display in Seville, for me, is largely mitigated by the fact that he was a key and often unheralded player for Celtic on route to the Final. To be honest, it seems unfair to apportion blame for our failure that night on any one player. Some would argue that Bobo Balde, for example, was equally culpable for the defeat given that we could ill-afford to be playing extra-time with a one-man deficit.
Rab’s highs came in the form of some quite magnificent shot-stopping over the course, a particular area of expertise, and he certainly had the ability to spread himself in order to present a formidable presence when it came to one-on-ones with opposing strikers.
In terms of specific games – highlights would include a brilliant match against Valencia in the UEFA Cup circa late 2001, and more recently – although this is more of a specific save - who can forget his tremendous last-gasp finger-tip effort when Celtic were grimly clutching the three points on offer at Tannadice during the title run-in a few months back.
The fact is, 85% of the time Rab Douglas was a decent enough ‘keeper. 5% of the time he was exceptional. It’s just a pity he’ll more likely be remembered for the remaining 10%...
And it was ever thus for goalkeepers. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide (baby).
Rab Douglas made 162 first-team appearances for Celtic, the ETims Wrecking Crew would like to thank him for his best efforts… and throttle him for the rest. Good luck down south big man.
:icon_mrgr
