TREVOR CARSON will attempt to shut out Celtic in the Boxing Day encounter at Dens Park tomorrow afternoon.
The Dundee keeper achieved the feat when he was at St Mirren in his side’s shock 2-0 win over Ange Postecoglou’s men in Paisley on September 18 last year.
And yet the eight times-capped Northen Ireland international, now 35, could be forgiven for thinking of what-might-have-been when Brendan Rodgers was looking for another netminder at Parkhead six years ago.
NO WAY THROUGH…Trevor Carson goes down bravely to thwart Giorgos Giakoumakis in St Mirren’s 2-0 win over Celtic in Paisley last season.
Craig Gordon, the Hoops’ regular No.1, had been ruled out for three months with a knee injury and the champions only had Dorus de Vries as back-up.
The frantic hunt was on for another shotstopper and Rodgers looked in the direction of Carson who was with Motherwell at the time.
A bid of £250,000 was slapped in for the custodian who had impressed his fellow-countryman. However, Fir Park bosses rejected the offer for the player who had cost a mere £10,000 when he joined from Hartlepool in the summer.
Celtic made a second move for Carson as they upped their original estimation to £375,000. Again, they were knocked back with Well insisting they wanted £750,000 and Rodgers switched his attention to Dundee’s frozen-out Scott Bain.
The netminder had been at Hibs in a temporary switch, but had failed to make an appearance for the Easter Road club. He moved to Parkhead on another loan switch and, remarakably, made his debut in the champions’ 3-2 win at Ibrox two months later after taking over from the crocked De Vries.
DOWN AND OUT…Trevor Carson is left helpless after Callum McGregor had fired Celtic into the lead in the 2-0 Scottish Cup Final triumph over Motherwell at Hampden in 2017.
It’s history now that Bain signed a long-term contract at the Hoops when he came out of contract in the summer and he is likely to be on the substitutes’ bench on Tayside tomorrow with Joe Hart entrusted once again with the gloves.
Carson left Motherwell in the summer of 2021 for Dundee United and had a loan spell at Morecambe in January 2022 before former Fir Park boss Robinson brought him to St Mirren.
He joined the Dens Park club in August this year – but he knows his career could have turned out so differently if Well hadn’t rejected two reasonable bids from Rodgers in January 2018.
*FAIRYTALE OF NEWCO (with apologies to Shane MacGowan)
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