Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

Worth a punt if Kuszczak wants to leave?



Albumen

Don't wait for me!
Jan 19, 2010
11,495
Brighton - In your face
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/06/craig-gordon-fresh-start-knee-problem

t had been widely assumed that Craig Gordon's next public utterance would be confirmation of retirement. Wrongly, as it transpires.

The man who still holds the record for the highest transfer fee for a British goalkeeper last played a competitive game in April 2012; even that was with the aid of a multitude of painkillers in one final attempt to earn a new contract at Sunderland.

Subsequent tales of Gordon's demise were not without foundation but he is now on the verge of a remarkable comeback, following on from the severe and rare patella tendon injury that has had such a serious impact upon his career. Three operations, several injections and even more setbacks later, Gordon has declared he is ready to return to football after taking part in full training sessions at Rangers.

This is a £9m player – Roy Keane took Gordon to Sunderland from Hearts in 2007 – capped 40 times by Scotland, who was credited with the best save in 20 seasons of the Premier League. He now has the hunger of a teenager starting out in football; finally Gordon's condition seems to match that.

"I'm 31 at the moment, I could have another eight or nine years. I fully intend it to be another eight or nine years," Gordon says. "I never carry any weight, I'm in great shape at the moment with under 10% body fat. I'm as lean as I have ever been and ready to go. It concentrates your mind when you are close to coming back because you want to be in the best shape possible.

"You never know, I could come back better than ever but that will obviously take time. It's time I'm willing to put in and effort that I'm willing to put in."

There are endearing reasons for his renewed desire. "My eldest daughter is three and a half, she doesn't remember her daddy playing football." The next step, of course, is to convince a club that he is worthy of an opportunity. Gordon believes he simply needs to manage his own day-to-day training regime in the manner of scores of other experienced players.

"I want to play games," he says. "What level that's at will depend what's available and who is looking for goalkeepers. I know it's a difficult time of the season to get in, I'm perhaps looking for an injury somewhere. Even if it was a bigger club looking towards next season who wanted me to come in and play reserve games between now and the end of the season, that would appeal to me. I am ready to play.

"I need to go and prove to people that I am fit, that I can train and play and I am totally fine with that. Any deal would probably be heavily structured because of my injury record and that's perfectly understandable, I accept that. It's just about getting that opportunity to play, hopefully before next season so that I'm not starting another new season without a club."

The low-profile assistance he is receiving from Rangers came about thanks to Gordon's former coach, Jim Stewart. Initially he used the gym at the club's training complex and now he has a strong relationship with the physiotherapist Steven Walker.

Gordon's surgery was carried out in Sweden by Professor Hakan Alfredson and subsequent treatment has involved the Barcelona specialist Ramón Cugat. Gordon has had a course of injections involving the removal of blood from his arm, spinning it in a centrifuge to create platelet-rich plasma, and injecting it back into his knee to speed healing. Gordon's tendon was torn vertically, hence the problems discovering appropriate treatment.

Had he previously thought it was all over? "Too many times to count. There have been so many lows over the past couple of years, trying to get back and most of the time finding yet another dead end. I'm not one for giving up, I have kept going, but it has been tough at times. There has been a lot of soul searching.

"The career that I have had allowed me to spend near enough two years out of the game, trying to focus on just trying to get my knee better. Maybe if this had happened to somebody else, they would have had to go out and get a job but I have been able to focus all my attention on different types of treatment and trying to get back playing."

There is no bitterness in Gordon's outlook, though there is perhaps frustration at the way his situation was handled when it first came to light during the warm-up for a reserve match with Everton in late 2010. If there anger, it is an understandable one towards those who questioned why Gordon was undertaking television work rather than playing even at a lower-league level.

"A lot of people have made comments without knowing what was going on," he says. "People thought I had fallen out of love with the game or I had chucked it or I didn't have the desire to get back into the game. Nothing could be further from the truth, I have done nothing but try everything possible to fix this injury. And I have done it on my own, I haven't had a club supporting me and putting me through these treatments or to pay for these treatments.

"To get to the point now where I am just about ready to get back into football, it has been a massive journey yet some people thought I wasn't trying or had somehow accepted that was it for my career, without knowing me or what was going on. That hurt me and hurt those around me.

"I have had plenty of advice to stop trying, to quit. I haven't taken that. I haven't looked at other careers. Everybody has been asking me what I was going to do with the rest of my life and I have always answered: 'I'm going to come back.' The careers officer at school used to ask me what I was going to do with my life and I always said: 'Play football.' It is the same now, I am going to get there.

"If I wasn't going to get there, I was going to try absolutely everything that was possible so that if it didn't work, I would know myself that I did anything I possibly could. That would have sat a lot easier. But for some people to think I would just quit? No, that's not me."

Still, the problem at its worst – the same one that afflicted Owen Hargreaves in both knees – had a strong impact on Gordon's everyday life. At the Stadium of Light, there was even apparent scepticism as to whether the ailment existed at all.

"If I was sitting for any length of time, I would have real pain in the knee," he explains. "My knee was very hot all the time, through all the inflammation. It wasn't nice; even just walking down the street, with every step I could feel it. Thankfully that is long gone now, I can walk and run with no discomfort at all. It is a nice feeling now but I had to put up with a lot of pain for a long time.

"I regret the fact that I left Sunderland after five years having played less than 100 games. That wasn't what I envisaged when I went there and it was nowhere near enough games. I wish I could have that time again, stay injury free and play for Sunderland because it is a great club.

"I don't think people fully understood how severe the injury was at the start. I don't think the medical staff or the football staff fully realised. It went down a different road towards the end, I was even being sent to psychologists to figure out if the pain was just in my head. That was crazy to me at the time and still is, to be perfectly honest. There's plenty of evidence to the contrary, to show that there was physical damage there and that's what was causing the pain and not allowing me to come back."

Gordon is within touching distance of this road's end. Nobody should begrudge him a final bit of success thereafter.
 












Telford Seagull

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2011
1,000
Telford
I would have a look at Craig Gordon whether Kuszczak leaves or not. He's a fantastic goalkeeper if he could get back to what he was, when he was the best British goalkeeper by miles
 




Tubby-McFat-Fuc

Well-known member
May 2, 2013
1,845
Brighton
What's wrong with big Pete? :tumble::tumble::tumble:
 


SULLY COULDNT SHOOT

Loyal2Family+Albion!
Sep 28, 2004
11,283
Izmir, Southern Turkey
GOrdon is happy to go anywhere to rebuild his career and does not expect to go straight into the first team so would bring him in to replace Casper and Brez. Too early to rely on him as first choice... needs to goa whole year injury free.
 



Paying the bills

Latest Discussions

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports


Top
Link Here