Fraser Forster will stay at Celtic until the end of the season thanks to an incredible oversight from Ross Wilson.
In October Wilson left his job as Director of Football Operations at Southampton to take up a similar post at Ibrox after Mark Allen suddenly decided to spend more time with his family.
According to his Linked In profile Willo had five key tasks in his role at Southampton:
Scouting & Recruitment – Senior and Academy
Football Operations
Football Administration
Performance Analysis
Contract Negotiation and Management
That last element would have been essential when negotiating Forster’s loan deal with Celtic. Most loan moves give the parent club the option to recall their player which is virtually a ‘just in case’ clause to cover your back in an emergency.
In the case of Forster however it is being reported that Wilson didn’t insert that clause with Saints now looking for a new keeper in January after some nightmare performances from the two keepers that were rated ahead of the loan Celt in August.
The Telegraph reports:
Fraser Forster will stay at Celtic for the rest of the season as Southampton did not insert a recall clause in his loan to the Scottish champions.
Forster helped win the League Cup at the weekend and has impressed during his return to the Parkhead club, while Angus Gunn and Alex McCarthy have shared duties at St Mary’s.
But Forster, 31, cannot be called back mid-season to compete for his place in Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team, according to a Celtic source.
Converting the loan into a permanent move next summer will be a difficult task for Celtic but thanks to the new supremo at Ibrox Forster will spend the rest of the season under the guidance of Neil Lennon and Stevie Woods.
Forster was a current England internationalist when he signed a contract extension keeping him at Southampton until the summer of 2022.