Langfield > Gordon

[RiG]

The EE carries this utterly laughable claim by Calderwood tonight.

ONLY £10M MAN GORDON IS BETTER THAN MY JAMIE

Dons boss Jimmy Calderwood today gave under-fire goalkeeper Jamie Langfield his full backing.

Calderwood claimed only Scotland No.1 Craig Gordon ? who Hearts last week rated at £10 million ? is better than Langfield, who has come in for criticism from some fans and pundits in recent weeks. Calderwood said: "Jamie is definitely the best Scottish keeper in the SPL outwith Gordon."

Langfield made a blunder to hand Hibs the lead in their recent Tennent's Scottish Cup clash at Pittodrie.

He could also have done better when Hibs made it 4-1 as the Dons crashed out of the cup in a replay at Easter Road.

But Langfield's SPL record this season is actually slightly better than Gordon's and has helped the Dons stay in the hunt with Rangers and Hearts for European places.

The Aberdeen stopper has played 24, conceded 22 goals and recorded seven shut-outs.

Gordon - who had the £10m price tag placed on him when Hearts rejected a £2.5m bid for his services from Fulham - has played 23, conceded 24 and had six shut-outs.

Calderwood said: "Jamie's league record compares favourably to Gordon's and underlines why I rate him so highly.

"Jamie has made a couple of mistakes, but every player does that from time to time.

"People have been ranting and raving about some of the other Scottish keepers in the SPL.

"But none of them have shown the same level of consistency as Jamie and Craig have over the last couple of years.

"Unfortunately, if you are a keeper your mistakes tend to get highlighted a lot more.

"Forwards can miss 20 chances and midfielders misplace as many passes and they won't get slated as much as any goalie who makes one error.

"But one thing about Jamie is he is always the first to hold up his hand and take the blame if something has gone wrong.

"He will then work like a bear in training in an effort to make sure the same sort of mistake is never repeated. Our goals against record has improved greatly since Jamie came here.

"The defence in front of him deserves credit for that as well. But defenders perform better if they have confidence in the man between the sticks."

[Harry Chibber]

Langfield is gash  :015: :015: :015: