Sam Dickeson wrote an article last week explaining why he is unconvinced by Adrian. It struck a real chord with me as I too have been less than impressed by Adrian in pre-season. He seems to me to be the kind of goalkeeper who plays a blinder one game and then has a stinker the next, which inevitably costs us three points. He needs to be more consistent and make fewer mistakes. Don’t get me wrong. I acknowledge that he has kept us in some games – the 0-0 at Chelsea being a good example, but is he consistently of Premier League Standard? I think the jury is out on that one.
It’s also clear that Jussi’s best days are behind him, so isn’t it time we looked at buying a first class goalkeeper before the end of the transfer window? I’d take a serious look at John Ruddy from Norwich City. He’s a class act and I suspect he’d jump at the same move that Rob Green made all those years ago. He’s consistent, a good shot stopper and he commands his area. He was very unlucky to miss out on the England World Cup squad and is coming into his best goalkeeping years.
A younger option is Stoke’s Jack Butland who is being kept out of their first team by Begovic. He was sent out on loan to Birmingham, Barnsley and Leeds last season but has only appeared for Stoke three times.
Either way, I think it’s something we may live to regret if we don’t sign a new goalkeeper in this transfer window.