I know. But knocking £7.5m off the asking price when their Chief Exec last season said they were making terrible transfer/business decisions leaves it open to debate. I suspect they wanted nearer £5m and this is the compromise.
To be fair, we multiplied our initial offer by 2.5, and they multiplied their asking price by 0.25, which they probably think is basically the same thing. Great deal for both sides.
I reckon if we sign Ben he will be our first keeper of any standing (forget the pun) that we have actually paid significant money for since 2000 when we bought Baarsden from Spurs! those that have played for us in goal since! Richard.Lee Lenny Pidgeley Paul Jones Ben Foster Marc Poom Scott Loach Rene Gilmartin Jonathon Bond Tamas Kuszczak Manuel Almunia Jack Bonham Heurelho Gomes Giedrius Arlauskis Costa Pantilimon
A bit of a 'meh' signing this if it happens - pretty similar standard to what we had before, with the only benefit being that he's homegrown.
He’s better than Gomes and is an experienced safe PL GK and with enough knowledge to bring Dahlberg along without breaking the budget. What were you hoping for?
I like that it compliments the Dahlberg signing as well as the homegrown status part. A very promising young keeper like Dahlberg coming to a club our size would be undermined somewhat if we were to buy someone decent who was in their mid-20's. With any luck the careers of Foster & Dahlberg should dovetail nicely.
I like Ben Foster. But he’s not better. I’ll happily change my mind on that if this goes through and he has an outstanding season. But I won’t change my name. HG has been a fantastic servant to the club on and off the field.
This definitely looks like it will happen - it's just been announced that Sam Johnstone is having a medical at WBA later today: https://twitter.com/sistoney67/status/1013800764928557057?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1013800764928557057&ref_url=http://www.redcafe.net/threads/transfer-tweets-summer-2018-remember-if-posting-foreign-language-tweets-to-post-in-english-too.438646/page-241 Yep. I agree with all those stating it makes sense that we sign a keeper in their 30s to allow potential room for Dahlberg, but Foster is basically similar age and ability to the two other keepers in their 30s who we already had. As I say, it's pretty much replacing like with like, other than the homegrown part.
Other key point is that it frees up another overseas over 21 slot in the squad (Foster replacing Gomes), for a cheaper foreign fox in the box type striker.
My post wasn’t a criticism of Gomes. I agree with everything you say and Gomes embodies exactly what I want from a WFC player in character. But I just think Foster is better, is more youthful in his older age, and his stats do back up that he’s been a better GK over the past couple of seasons, even if marginal.
I agree, different is probably the best way of looking at it. I think Foster is an excellent shot stopper with outstanding distribution and I think Gomes is an outstanding shot stopper with decent distribution. Neither of them are beyond having an absent moment or two. We have been treated to some great keepers.
I always remember his distribution was fantastic. He was essentially our playmaker during the 05/06 season
First of all let me say I’m sad to see Gomes leave. He’s been a wonderful signing for us, both on and off the pitch. He was such a big part of our promotion and then us staying in the top flight. I’m glad he played our last match of last season so he got a farewell rather than just disappearing into oblivion once Gracia arrived and decided he preferred the Greek. So to Foster. I believe this could be one of the best signings of the Pozzo era. An experienced keeper, an England international, a player who has won multiple Player of the Season awards at his various clubs, homegrown and a person who has a big affection for our club...and all for under £3 million. Wow. We could get 100 or so games out of him and if he performs to expectation, he could gain us several extra points during his time here. It’s a no brainer, if we sadly accept Gomes’s time is up. I still suspect we might bring in another keeper too to be Number 2 while Dahlberg learns his trade. People might say ‘nah he will be our Number 2’ and they may be right but a Number 2 is only an injury away from being Number 1, and as we saw at Goodison last year keepers can get injured with disastrous consequences. If we start the season with Foster and Dahlberg and Foster gets injured in the first week of the season, it would be a huge ask for our young Swede to suddenly become our main keeper. I know we have Bachmann too on the books but I still wonder if we might look elsewhere?
This would be a decent signing, although I don't understand the sentiments about him being better than HG.
Bachmann's turning 24 in a week, total pie-in-the-sky moonman thinking here, but I wonder if they might consider actually using him as the Number 2. I have no idea what he's actually like as a goalie, though I presume he's not quite Neuer yet.
Love Gomes to bits, but age catches up with all of us, I would love him to stay at the club in a player/coaching capacity, but that does not seem to be on the cards. So thanks for the memories HG, you are a WFC Legend in my book. How good is this, we look like we might be replacing one WFC legend with another in Big Ben Foster. I hope this happens as he would be a good solid keeper for a season or three and a perfect mentor to bring Dahlberg through as his eventual replacement.
Totally agree with you post. Don't think Gomes' ability has dropped off significantly, more that his body is not able to keep up. Foster I reckon has always been rather underrated. He has performed consistently for many seasons. Will give Dahlberg and Bachmann time to adjust.
