There continues to be some debate on whether we need a new keeper and no doubt this will rage on, particularly given the usual consequences of errors by those who don the gloves.
I have always been of the opinion that your keeper is your most important player. If they can deliver their part of a team's performance consistently, then you've pretty much got a point in the bag before you kick off. Yes I'm being somewhat simplistic as piece of genius, a refereeing howler or an error from an outfield player can easily spoil a clean sheet, but as a rule of thumb, a great keeper will win or save you as many points as your star centre forward.
I was thinking about our two best keepers throughout my time as a Saints fan; Peter Shilton and Antti Niemi. Is it a co-incidence that their tenures with the club coincided with arguably our two most successful periods? (Yes I know we were later relegated with Niemi but we could have played two keepers in the first half of that year without making much difference!). Likewise, would Man Utd have won quite so many titles in the 90s without Schmeichel? He was statistically always the best performing keeper in one on one situations but this was noted because he was involved in so many!
There are a few very good current examples in the PL too. I have no doubt that Swansea would be in very serious trouble if not for the extraordinary performances of Michel Vorm, Newcastle would not be flying quite so high if it weren't for Tim Krul, and dare I say that a certain England number one is the primary reason that City haven't dropped more points. Just look across that city to see that the reverse is true with some of De Gea's contributions.
Keepers aren't just important, they are crucial. So, with this in mind, I think it may be a case of when we buy a new keeper rather than if.
I have always been of the opinion that your keeper is your most important player. If they can deliver their part of a team's performance consistently, then you've pretty much got a point in the bag before you kick off. Yes I'm being somewhat simplistic as piece of genius, a refereeing howler or an error from an outfield player can easily spoil a clean sheet, but as a rule of thumb, a great keeper will win or save you as many points as your star centre forward.
I was thinking about our two best keepers throughout my time as a Saints fan; Peter Shilton and Antti Niemi. Is it a co-incidence that their tenures with the club coincided with arguably our two most successful periods? (Yes I know we were later relegated with Niemi but we could have played two keepers in the first half of that year without making much difference!). Likewise, would Man Utd have won quite so many titles in the 90s without Schmeichel? He was statistically always the best performing keeper in one on one situations but this was noted because he was involved in so many!
There are a few very good current examples in the PL too. I have no doubt that Swansea would be in very serious trouble if not for the extraordinary performances of Michel Vorm, Newcastle would not be flying quite so high if it weren't for Tim Krul, and dare I say that a certain England number one is the primary reason that City haven't dropped more points. Just look across that city to see that the reverse is true with some of De Gea's contributions.
Keepers aren't just important, they are crucial. So, with this in mind, I think it may be a case of when we buy a new keeper rather than if.
