Amos Loaned Out

Ben Amos has been loaned out to Cardiff on a season-long loan, subject to international clearance. Yep, Wales is a foreign country.

It’s a deal that could make sense. Amos did start well when he first joined us, and a lot of people do seem to forget that. He joined us permanently last summer, but as the club pretty much fell apart on and off the pitch, he didn’t have the best of times either. Some of his performances were actually fine, and given how terrible our defence was there is only so much a keeper can do.

His big weakness seemed to be increasingly exposed though. Basically the fact you would have every right to worry about his eyesight, given the amount of times he was suspect when it came to teams scoring from way out.

The lack of competition didn’t help. When he frst came in, Adam Bogdan and Andy Lonergan were both at the club, and although there were injury problems, one of the two were always there and they were competing for the jersey. In the summer Amos came on board for good, Bogdan and Lonergan left, and the best backup keeper we could sign was Paul Rachubka, someone who Neil Lennon didn’t really trust.

Mark Howard has since arrived and after a pre-season where they both got a fair crack at staking a claim, Howard has been handed the gloves for all the league games. A big-earner too, it makes sense to get that off the wage bill.

We do however, need some sort of replacement. Will Jaaskelainen for now will the back-up keeper, but with all due respect to him, he’s a Howard injury away from being number one, and with the scrapping of the loan window, we really need someone in before Wednesday’s deadline.

I wonder if Joe Hart fancies it…