A Ruddy good bit of business – The art of the veteran goalkeeper

Scott Carson at Manchester City. Tom Heaton at Manchester United. Willy Caballero at Chelsea. It’s a common theme across English football’s elite.

There will always be room for invaluable experience and knowhow at the bottom of the goalkeeper pecking order. Enter one of Newcastle’s most recent arrivals, John Ruddy. Whilst hardly a deal that will set pulses racing on Tyneside, the deal represents a shrewd and low risk bolstering of experience and maturity within the Magpies’ squad. The veteran English goalkeeper, who made his debut for Cambridge United all the way back in 2004, offers Eddie Howe’s side a de facto goalkeeping coach.

Ruddy will join a goalkeeping department that already includes the homegrown fourth-choice option Mark Gillespie. The Geordie, whilst not as vastly experienced as Ruddy, exists primarily to account for registration rules and ticks a box in Newcastle’s squad list. Howe has also hailed his work behind the scenes and character.

Even at the advanced age of 37, Ruddy has more than held his own at the Championship level over the last few years. Despite the side being relegated into the third tier last term, Birmingham City could rely on the veteran shot stopper as a first team regular, making 87 league starts during his two-year spell at the club.

But Eddie Howe and the club have not given this signing the green light due solely to Ruddy’s performance between the sticks. He will likely not see much if any Premier League gametime at Newcastle, signed in large part to replace the outgoing yet seldom seen Loris Karius (best of luck in the future, Loris!). For comparison similar figures such as Carson and Heaton have made little to no inroads into their respective first teams. Carson played only 90 minutes of Premier League football for City whilst Heaton could only find action for Manchester United’s PL2 affiliate side. These signings, clearly, are based on far more than gametime. Experience sells.

So while many fans…

Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/07/13/a-ruddy-good-bit-of-business-the-art-of-the-veteran-goalkeeper/

Author : Olly Hawkins

Publish date : 2024-07-13 12:29:32

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