I’m not sure whether to think of it in terms of the Magic Roundabout or something akin to a revolving door stuck on fast, but there were equal measures of madcap comedy and weird tragedy in the goalkeeping situation at Elland Road last season.
In fact, neither the first-choice Felix Wiedwald nor his back-up Andy Lonergan could do much keeping of the goal. Wiedwald kept a bucketload of clean sheets as Leeds shot to the top of the table. When the rot set in after the Millwall defeat, he succumbed to the general malaise infecting the Whites.
Lonergan came in to depose him, but he too suffered as the Whites lurched from defeat to defeat, disappointing performance to disappointing performance, jeer to jeer. With both of Leeds’ senior keepers falling foul of the biscuit-wrist, spaghetti-arm keeping that had summed Leeds United up under Marco Silvestri, it was left to youngster Bailey Peacock-Farrell to save the day.
Almost. The much regarded young stopper filled in more than adequately as the last line of defence for the West Yorkshire side. Fans took to him as he is ‘one of their own’, but his stability between the sticks does not answer one big question – what will become of Leeds United’s #1 shirt next season?
Names have been linked to the ‘vacant’ goalkeeping position at Elland Road, and in truth continue to be linked. These are names such as Manchester City stopper Angus Gunn, Chelsea’s young keeper Jamal Blackman and current Birmingham player, and massive Leeds fan, David Stockdale.
It is a situation that Phil Hay, writing in the Yorkshire Evening Post, says needs sorting – and sorting this week. Hay says that the Whites are looking to conclude their hunt for a #1 and that “Leeds want to fill the number one slot in the next few days.”
With pre-season not that far away, United want a settled #1 and that is increasingly looking not likely to be Stockdale with current club Birmingham City stonewalling Leeds’ attempts to bring the 32-year-old in on a season-long loan with a view to a possible purchase.
Gunn also seems to be a shot deal, the Whites favoured approach being a loan but the Manchester CIty youngster said to be lined up for a permanent move from the Etihad for a burning fee of around the £10 milion mark.
That leaves Chelsea’s 24-year-old Blackman, a player whose career for the Blues has been seen largely out on loan. He was at Sheffield United last season, playing in 31 Championship games. However, there’s even a pitfall there with rumours linking him to Vitesse Arnhem, Chelsea’s routine feeder club.
Whichever option Leeds United come up with, it needs to be one that they sort out quickly. With pre-season coming into the finishing stretch, Whites fans will want to see a long-term stopper in place rather than the jockey-less horse tearing towards the finishing line that last season was.
