WHEN Simon Mignolet was 14, he came to a thudding realisation. He was not going to be quick enough to be the next Enzo Scifo and maybe â just maybe â he was not going to make the grade at all in the game he loved. After spending all of his childhood honing his skills as a central midfielder, his local club Sint-Truidense sent him packing after a growth spurt robbed him of his pace and left him struggling with a succession of juvenile injuries. Pointed in the direction of some goalkeeping sessions by his dad as a way of increasing his pace over five yards, he stumbled into a new role between the sticks for a local Sunday league side who played on council parks. So close yet so far from a professional career, he resolved to play for fun for a while. Within two years he was playing in the Belgian top flight â within six he had made the jump to the Premier League. Mignolet takes up the tale of his remarkable rise: âI was a central midfielder when I was young, but I was released because I was not really quick enough. âTo be fair, they were right â I was not quick enough. I had a growth spurt â I turned really big really quickly â and I just lost all my pace. âI was released, then had a trial with a Championship club and they rejected me too. âAt that stage it did not look like football was the answer, so I told my dad âI want to be a goalieâ. âI played for my local Sunday team, just for fun really, and within a year my first team decided to scout me again. âThey signed me â one year later I was playing for Belgium under-17s and a year later I was in the first team. âIt is crazy really â but I think I made the right decision.â Sunderland fans felt like agreeing after his contribution to Sundayâs demolition derby. Mignolet etched his name into Black Cats folklore by clawing out Demba Baâs sweetly struck spot-kick â just another extraordinary chapter in the life of an otherwise very ordinary 23-year-old. Despite taking a quantum leap forward in his career over the past 18 months, he remains the same grounded kid who enrolled in a political sciences degree at Leuven University three years ago â just in case his athletic career did not pan out. He still drives an Audi A4, is rarely seen wearing designer gear and recently moved in with girlfriend of seven years Jasmine, who is a trainee lawyer. Mignolet recently took up golf â âmy agent encouraged me because everyone in England plays itâ â but a chunk of his spare time is now devoted to catching up on the coursework missed during the Premier League season. When he signs off for the season he will be back in Belgium to sit the final two exams of his degree course and knows he is skirting on the cusp of passing. He added: âMy last two exams I got 10 and 11 out of 20. You need 10 to pass so I am just about getting there. âMy mum and dad wanted me to have something in case football did not work out. âThe first year was easy because I was training in the morning and at university in the afternoon having fun.
Missed out the part about not saving the donkeys shot, that any other keeper in the league would have saved.
On the whole I would say that Mig has been very good for us since he broke into the first team. However, he does need to work on his kicking and distribution which has been woeful at times, although was much better yesterday.
For me, apart from a short spell before his injury, Gordon has not justified his huge price tag, and I would put him third behind Westwood and Mig.
Mig is only young really and could become a top, top keeper. Yes he has weaknesses but can improve on them.
Exactly this. Mignolet terrifies the life out of me when the ball is crossed into the box, the amount of times he lets the ball come into the 6 yard box without claiming it is unbelievable, even just lately, Henry and Ameobi. As you can tell im not really a fan of his.
Not good with the stats (where's poolie when you need him) but, how many clean sheets have all 3 kept for us?
I'm a Mig fan. He's only young and he's not ther yet but in a few years I think he'll go on to be a top keeper in Europe. I would have Gorden ahead of him but as good as Westwood is I don't think he is much if any better. Have faith in young Mig. He's done wekk and will continue to do so!
any chance we could recombine the genes from all 3 keepers to create a super keeper who has the best of all 3?
I like Mig. A young lad that is still learning, and pulling of some great stuff lately, i'd put him ahead of westwood tbh. But when gordon is in form, he's brilliant, however he never is, and he is always injured.
Well I cannot see MoN dropping Mig anytime soon. When Westy had flu or something he was asked to play even though his facial injury was not healed and still sore, he stepped into the breech and showed bravery. I then thought he would be very poor against Stoke and wanted Westy back, but Mig proved me wrong again and had a Cracker of a game. He then did the penalty safe and frankly has played well. MoN will not drop him unless he is injured or is too awful. However his distribution from the back is dreadful, it may be he realises Turner and Oshea are terrible at passing the ball. If Frankie is playing he will drop back to demand the ball of the CBs, so that might work. West looks strong the few games he played and Flash made some tremendous saves also. My guess is one of the three will leave in the summer, perhaps the one on the highest wages?
