The curious case of Benjamin Siegrist falling behind Scott Bain in Celtic’s pecking order

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·18 June 2024

The curious case of Benjamin Siegrist falling behind Scott Bain in Celtic’s pecking order

The curious case of Benjamin Siegrist…

Celtic’s Joe Hart and Benjamin Siegrist at Full Time during a cinch Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park, on September 25, 2021, . (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Swiss born Benjamin Siegrist, remember him? Our third choice goalkeeper who was signed back in 2022 on a free transfer from Dundee United. Ben has since made a solitary competitive appearance in his time at the club. Indeed the only way you would know he was still here is through his numerous social media posts which are a regular occurrence.

OneFootball Videos

Ben was considered a decent signing when he joined the club two years ago, and with good reason as he showed his ability against us on more than a few occasions with Dundee United during his time at Tayside.

Despite him being highly rated, he was mainly seen as third choice behind Scott Bain under the management of Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers.

Both managers however would have seen more of the keepers up close than me or you, so they must have had good reason to regard Ben as third choice.

With Ben, who is only 32 and that’s young for a goalkeeper, now having more or less confirmed that he’s set to leave the club this summer, it remains a mystery as to why he couldn’t muster more first team appearances than he did.

Siegrist still has two years left on his contract but appears to have negotiated a deal with Celtic that will allow him to leave on a free transfer, and of course save Celtic the wages on a player who has contributed next to nothing since his arrival.

Speaking to Swiss based media outlet Blink, Siegrist explained his intentions to move on from the current situation at Celtic.

“After my last day at work, I’ll leave as soon as possible. And I’ll never come back here,” he said, referring to Celtic. On talk of his plans to move to Australia, he also denied that this was going to be the case, for now at least, as he intends to continue playing in Europe for now.

Ange Postecoglou brought him to Celtic apparently as number two to Joe Hart, but that never really materialised with Scott Bain getting that job under the now Tottenham manager and his replacement at Celtic, Brendan Rodgers. Siegrest explained how his move from Dundee Utd to Celtic about.

“After the game against Celtic, their goalkeeping coach asks me for my cell phone number. I was supposed to be number two behind Hart.”

On talk of his plans to move to Australia, he also denied that this was going to be the case, for now at least, as he intends to continue playing in Europe for now.

“No. I’m going to retire there. But not yet. Britt (his Australian fiancé) has already indicated that she could do her podcast from Europe. We’re excited.”

Getting Siegrist out the door as part of the ‘dead wood’ at Lennoxtown will be a shrewd move for the club. His is a curious case though, and while you could make a strong case for him being behind Joe Hart over the past three seasons, it’s much more debatable that Scott Bain deserved to be ahead of Siegrist in the pecking order.

But that’s from the outside looking in and the Celtic managers (Ange and Brendan) appear to have come to the same conclusion and it’s them who picked the teams. Hopefully Ben Siegrist can find himself a decent club and get back to playing regularly.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

Visit Celtic Shorts for short, sharp Celtic news and commentary from the makers of The Celtic Star – just click on image above!