CRAIG Gordon’s much-heralded £9 million move from Hearts to Sunderland back in 2007 may have ultimately ended in disappointment and frustration five years later when he was released after failing to recover from persistent and serious knee problems.

Yet, Gordon, now thankfully recovered from the health issues which blighted his time on Wearside and momentarily threatened to end his playing career, still has fond recollections of the club and his time there.

When he walks out with his Celtic team mates at the Stadium of Light ahead of the pre-season friendly with his former outfit this afternoon it will be the good times, not the dark periods he spent on the sidelines, which will be uppermost in his mind.

There were, despite his record-breaking move to the English top flight ultimately turning awry, a fair few of them.

Being applauded off the training ground by his team mates following his first training session is one. Helping his newly-promoted club to save off the threat of relegation another. As is the miraculous save which he produced in a home game against Bolton in 2010 which was later voted the best in the first 20 seasons of the Premier League.

“I have good memories,” he said. “In the first year we stayed up which was a massive achievement with the squad that we had. We dug it out and got enough results to stay in the league.

“We had some big wins and a lot of late goals that season. Overall, my time at Sunderland was blighted by my injury record at that time. But those one-off occasions are happy memories.

“As was the save against Bolton. We actually won that game 1-0 that night so it was important in terms of points and staying in the league. It gives added significance to a save when you go on and win the game.

“I would be hard pushed to make a better one in the remainder of my career. I don’t really quite know how I managed to do it. It was just a reaction. I managed to get my left hand to it. It was just the way I connected with the ball. I managed to spin it up and over the bar from right underneath the crossbar.

“I have a trophy for it now. The guys who were nominated for it were world class and some of the saves were just brilliant. To come out on top of that was amazing. It is a really good achievement and one that I will hang onto for a wee while.”

Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager who sanctioned the British record £9 million purchase of the goalkeeper, revealed in his second autobiography that Gordon had made quite an impact in his first training session and had been clapped by his new team mates afterwards.

“That is fairly accurate,” said the Scotland internationalist. “When you go down to a new club you want to make an impression. I wanted to show my new team mates that, as the big money signing, I was there to help the team. I made a lot of saves.

“Dwight Yorke was one of the ones who was leading the applause when we left the training field which was quite nice considering where he had played and the career he had had up until that point. We went out the next day and beat Tottenham 1-0 on my debut. It was a good start.”

Even working under the notoriously volatile Keane proved a positive experience and Gordon believes the current Republic of Ireland assistant still has much to offer as a manager in his own right.

“He has got a lot of good attributes,” he said. “He is working under Martin O’Neill just now, but maybe as time goes on he will come back into management in his own right again. He has a lot of good ideas. His organisation is very good. Yeah, he could be fiery at times, but he created a good atmosphere within the players.”

Gordon, who was the subject of a speculative bid from English champions Chelsea back in January, stressed he wasn’t adversely affected by the size of his price tag.

“I just tried to get on with playing the game,” he said. “It was just disappointing that I never really got a really long run to show what I could do for an extended period of time.”

The 34-year-old has been saddened to see Sunderland, who are heavily in debt and whose future remains uncertain, get relegated last season and is hopeful they can return to the Premier League in the near future.

“It is probably a difficult place to try and attract players to, the north-east of England,” he said. “But they have a massive stadium and a lot of loyal fans. They do a lot in the community.

“It is a shame they are not in the Premier League because they are a great club. I hope they can get back there as soon as possible. That stadium, the set-up they have got, they deserve to be there.”