I’ve been looking at the Saints’ forum on the back of your post. You’re not kidding, they think he’s brilliant. “safest £25m anyone will ever spend. Such an impressive keeper.” https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/topic/61240-aaron-ramsdale/page/12/
I do think ramsdale is just a very easy link to make to any promoted teams personally. When you compare the data profiles of the other targets we have had it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
The reason I’m hammering the data about ramsdale is because as a newly promoted club, we’re likely expecting to face a lot of shots, and therefore want a keeper who outperforms his xGoT usually to give us the best chance when under the cosh. For example last season: Bulka - +4.2 Petrovic - +8.3 Ramsdale - -0.2 it doesn’t make sense to me
There’s surely levels of data and even then it comes down to interpretation? With all due respect to the (good) posters on here talking about it, most of the data they have access to or are quoting is pretty base level stuff. Some more than others. There’s a whole myriad of information out there - I’d suggest the secret to being a good, smart, effective data led club doesn’t see you going out to just compete for the keeper with the best goal/xGOT prevention stats but instead sees you identifying something in more detailed underlying data that others perhaps don’t and that you believe you can utilise or work on to your benefit. Won’t necessarily be obvious to outside observers.
Looking at their forum got me thinking about the upcoming championship season. I think it’s wide open. Don’t think it’s a guarantee that Leicester & Southampton will do well (Ipswich will imo). Likes of Birmingham, Coventry, Sheff U, Wrexham & a couple of other dark horses would be up there you’d think.
looking at that it certainly makes no sense at all, i always thought ramsdale was a damn good keeper but i feel he has lost a lot of his early confidence, and no matter how well we coach him back it only takes one bad game and he is back in his shell...and let's face it, there are plenty of 'bad games' coming up this season. saying that, it is not too many years back that we had a keeper who was uniformly labelled as 'sh1te' yet last season was playing in europe so maybe there is something the coaches can see.
If people criticise Ramsdale because he's been relegated a few times then surely he deserves praise for helping Arsenal come 2nd.
Mayenda kind of topped him in the later season but that first goal at Cov was massive, and so well taken, given he'd gone 12 games or something without one!
Wilsons dip in form coincided with Rigg's which was so important the first half of the season I think Wilson is the striker I'm most confident of having an impact this season
The relegations mean nothing to me, neither does the 2nd place. I think the disparity of the league finishes he has kind of proves he's not a real difference maker though. That's kind of my whole point of being fairly against the signing if it's at 20m+, can we really afford to be making signings at that price point and in his age range if he's not a real needle mover? Get the fee right down and I could be on board with him as a GK who will more or less concede the goals he's meant to concede and save the shots he's meant to save but for 20m+ they have to be winning points on their own.
Seems they're a bit like us , bigging up a player we know has a limit and not as good but wanting top dollar for. £10-14m max but there must be better out there.