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Town's Squad Analysis - Goalkeepers

06/07/2023

It should be common knowledge by now that Town has the best 'keeper in the Championship in Lee Nicholls, so this squad analysis article should be easy right? It could be, but when you have an asset that everyone wants or even when a coach walks out, you need to make sure you replace them... properly.

A New Direction

It is going to be interesting to see how the direction of goalkeeping changes with the arrival of Ian Bennett, who replaces the popular Paul Clements to head up goalkeeping at Town. Currently, Lee Nicholls, Nicholas Bilokapic and Jacob Chapman are listed as the first-team goalkeepers. All of whom have first-team experience at league level. To add to this list, Giosue Bellagambi is listed on Town's site as being in the B team squad, but he too has league experience on loan at Salford in the second half of last season.

A Solid Number 1

I think one of the most under-valued parts of any squad is having a solid number 1 option. You only have to look at what happened at Leicester last season - granted there were many other issues going on off the pitch, but losing their captain and most influential player in Kasper Schmeichel was huge. In Town's first season under Corberan, Town was pottering along to a mid-table finish, but allowed Ben Hamer to leave in January after promoting Ryan Schofield to save on the wage bill. It ended up imploding after Schofield lost all his confidence which isn't a surprise when the three centre halves in front of him were Richard Stearman, Richard Keogh and Naby Sarr, although that is a debate for another day! Not to mention that Joel '11 goals in 2 games' Pereira was the backup.

Goalkeeper Union

Another important part of assembling a 'goalkeeper union' is having an experienced backup, who can be played if called upon, but most importantly is a good trainer and will positively influence the squad. Scott Carson at Manchester City is a good example of this, a player with vast experience at first-team level at a range of clubs and while City would probably still win the league with him in goal, he is just a solid backup option.

Last Season

For the second half of last season, I am going to be biased but Town had the best set of goalkeepers in the Championship. With Lee Nicholls sustaining a shoulder injury on New Year's day, it caused Town to be without a senior keeper, with Nicholas Bilokpaic stepping up to fill the gap. I am a huge fan of Bilokapic, and think he has a huge amount of potential, but if Town didn't bring in cover it could have been a repeat of Schofield. I am still unsure of how Town managed to sign Tomas Valcik and although he had a somewhat of a shaky start, when he got fit, he showed why he is the Czech number one keeper and has won the Europa League. Town then added Jordan Smith on loan on deadline day as a contingency to Vaclik. Again somewhat like Scott Carson at City, someone is a great trainer, but there also as an emergency backup option that if Vaclik was injured and Bilokapic was first choice, Town had an option incase he needed to be hooked for a few games.

Any Changes This Season

Looking at the three 'keepers Town have, immediately I would be looking at moving on temporarily both Bilokapic (20) and Chapman (22) until January to get them playing time and experience. With Nicholls going to be the number 1 for as long as he is here, there is no point having two young 'keepers sitting around, they both need to play.

I would look at signing Chris Maxwell who was recently released by Blackpool. The 32-year-old who was linked with Town back in 2016 played 28 times last season in the Championship, so he may be looking to find a League One side where he will play each week, but he is an example of a player that I would be looking at to be the number 2 next season.

The Elephant in the Room

As Danny Cowley once said in relation to interest in Karlan Grant: 'If you've got a girlfriend nobody else wants maybe you question why she's your girlfriend'. You can bet that there is going to be interest in Lee Nicholls, he is contracted to 2026, although Town holds the option until 2027. There is no pressure for Town to sell unless Nicholls looks to push the move. People may laugh at this, but I genuinely would value him at £8-10 million. He is pushing a Premier League move at this point and given that he is entering his prime given he is just 30, I don't see why Town would demand any less.

The money that Town would receive if Lee is to go has to be spent on replacing him, whether that be on a highly rated young keeper or looking at a keeper in their prime. A potential signing could be to re-sign Carl Rushworth from Brighton. A 22-year-old England U21 international, Rushworth came through the ranks at Town before being released at 16 as Town chose to prioritise, checks notes... Ryan Schofield. Rushworth has spent the last two seasons on loan at Walsall and Lincoln respectively, and it is looking likely that Brighton will look to send him out on loan to a Championship side this season. I doubt Brighton will allow him to leave permanently, while the fee they would be demanding could be more than Town get for Nicholls! Alternatively, I would be looking at someone like Ethan Horvarth at Nottingham Forest or Matt Ingram from Hull City, both of whom would be a drop in the levels shown by Nicholls, but they are reliable at this level.

As I said at the beginning of this piece, this probably is the easiest part of the Town squad to analyse in its current state, but equally it could be a totally different entity come September.