Should Celtic drop Artur Boruc?

No

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by Simon Wright

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Over the past three or four years, Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc has built up a reputation as one of the best and most talented goalkeepers in Europe. There was plenty of talk about the twenty-eight year old going to a bigger club in the English Premier League but instead he has stayed with Celtic. Unfortunately, the last twelve months have been disappointing from a personal perspective, even if Boruc did help Celtic win their third consecutive league title. A series of high profile blunders, during the 08/09 season, have cost Celtic goals and points and have led some to ask whether Celtic manager Gordon Strachan should do what had previously seemed unthinkable and drop Boruc.

Before explaining why I think Celtic would regret dropping Boruc, let's start by looking at why his form may have dipped. Watching Boruc in a recent televised match, it was impossible to miss the fact that he has put on weight. There have been tabloid allegations about Boruc's personal life that have suggested that he has been living a lifestyle that is not conducive to being a professional sportsman. Perhaps he has allowed his fame, and the wealth that comes with being a top professional footballer, to get in the way of the discipline that is required to remain at the top of his sport. Certainly, it seems that his international manager, Leo Beenhakker, has been exasperated by his star goalkeeper's behaviour, choosing to drop Boruc from the Polish national squad for breaching a curfew after a previous international match. Boruc has since been reinstated in the Polish team, which suggests that Beenhakker still trusts Boruc's abilities, even if he's not the most model member of the squad.

In Scotland, too, there has been off-the-field controversy. The rivalry between Glasgow's two giant clubs, Celtic and Rangers is famously fierce and matches between these clubs often walk a fine line between passion and sectarianism. Therefore any actions by players that cause to inflame an already volatile atmosphere are looked at very seriously. In a derby match in 2006 Boruc was cautioned by Scottish police for gestures he made to Rangers fans. That rap on the knuckles should have been the end of the matter but Boruc repeated his faux pas the next time the two teams met. If nothing else, it suggests that Boruc isn't the most sensible of individuals. More recently, he has also been photographed in pubs smoking and drinking which, again, casts doubts upon his discipline as a top level sportsman.

However, despite these indiscretions, Boruc remains a first pick for Celtic manager, Gordon Strachan and, in my view, this has been the correct decision. In football, you can only really replace your goalkeeper if you believe that the deputy is more able at that current moment. The problem Celtic have is that their deputy, Scottish player Mark Brown is not considered to be an international standard goalkeeper. He did come into the team for one game recently and Celtic lost 4-2 against Aberdeen, so didn't really press his claim for a regular place. Meanwhile, Boruc once again proved his match-winning capabilities in a highly dramatic League Cup semi final against a very good Dundee United team. A lively match saw both keepers make some great saves and the result was that the game was scoreless after extra time and penalties loomed. The penalty shoot-out was one of the most dramatic that I've ever witnessed and was tied at 9-9. Suddenly we had the rare sight of both goalkeepers having to take penalties. The Dundee United goalkeeper stepped up and scored which meant that Celtic would be out if Boruc missed his penalty. He stepped up and confidently placed it in the top right hand side of the goal. It was the best penalty of the shoot-out. Celtic went on to win the shoot-out 11-10 and Boruc had played no small part in that success.

There's no doubt that Strachan and Celtic fans would like to see Boruc return to the consistently high level that he displayed in previous seasons. At the moment, he is a bit up and down and that isn't good for the manager's or the fans hearts. Nevertheless, I believe that Boruc remains the best goalkeeper at Celtic and merits his place in the team. Some of the controversy that has surrounded him has been blown up out of proportion but there's no smoke without fire and Boruc's waistline, at the very least, shows that he needs to buckle down a bit harder in training. My suspicion is that he has become a bit complacent at Celtic and that he probably is hankering after a move to a really big club. If he does get his move, however, then he will have to perform at his best week in, week out, as big clubs such as Man Utd and Arsenal tend to have more than one quality goalkeeper on their books.

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