Celtic clearly fluffed their lines in failure to sign David Marshall this summer

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David Marshall is a national hero as the Scotland international saved the crucial penalty that saw the Tartan Army heading to the European Championships next summer. 

His save from Aleksandar Mitrovic’s effort continued his fine form for his nation and Scottish football will return to a major international tournament for the first time since World Cup ‘98. 

His display does however have plenty of Celtic fans scratching their heads. 

In the summer, Celtic were in desperate need of a new goalkeeper. Fraser Forster wanted to try make a go for it at parent club Southampton and a permanent return to Parkhead became fanciful. Craig Gordon meanwhile, returned to Hearts, where he was guaranteed regular playing time. 

It left Celtic on the hunt for a new stopper and in the end, they swooped for AEK Athens’ Greek international Vasilis Barkas. 

But with the Greek struggling and Scott Bain currently in between the sticks, Celtic fans will be wondering why they did not go for another Parkhead return, especially after the success of Forster last time around. 

Marshall was available after the sad financial demise of his previous club Wigan Athletic and was immediately linked with Celtic. Known to Neil Lennon from his previous stint as Celtic boss, it seemed a no-brainer for the Bhoys to bring Marshall home. 

In fact, just this week, Marshall spoke about the interest. 

“It was never close,” the 35-year-old told the Glasgow Evening Times. “I signed a couple of years at Derby and I am really delighted. I just wanted to get to as high a level as I could.

Which begs the question? Why was there not a chance of this deal happening?

Celtic, perhaps, wanted to go for a longer-term project in Barkas but for a pittance of the fee, they would have got their hands on a player who remains universally popular at Parkhead and would put it all on the line if returned to Paradise.

Instead, Marshall headed to Derby County and Celtic are in something of a mess in the goalkeeper department. 

This was an open goal for Celtic in the transfer market this summer and, quite frankly, they fluffed it.