09 Mar 2026 17:53:26
Rather than write a full script on the future direction of the squad, I thought I'd break it down starting with an easy one. Goalkeeper.
Lammens has been a revelation for our team, IMO.
Vitek is doing well out on loan at Bristol and is very much capable of being understudy/competition to Lammens.
Bayindir, even as third choice, I am not sure he is worth keeping.
Onana just has to go.
Heaton is of course retiring. His experience is vital for the dressing room.
Suggestions of Pope or even Ortega on a free at the end of the window. Either would be smart business and I'd probably lean more towards Ortega at the moment.
We also have the likes of Mee and Harrison in youth, but they probably need loans before any consideration is given to them stepping up.
So would everyone be happy with a stock of Lammens/Vitek/cheap third choice like the aforementioned Pope or Ortega. Or do people feel this is an area we need to invest in over the summer?
09 Mar 2026 19:42:48
I think that is fine, to be honest. Lammens has been great and should only get better.
Goalkeeper isn't a position you want to rotate much, and is probably the last position we should be looking to spend significantly on improving right now.
09 Mar 2026 19:44:58
Jimbo, I agree with the first choice, obviously. I can't see Pope wanting to be a third choice, so I'd take him as backup if he was happy with that. Vitek needs game time at his age, so I'd get him out again on a good loan.
I do think he could be a good keeper, but no point in him sitting on the bench week after week. Young goalies need as much playing experience as possible, imo.
09 Mar 2026 21:38:19
Talking about goalies. Has anyone seen our u18s keeper? I'm not sure I've ever seen a range of passing like that from a GK in my life. ?
09 Mar 2026 22:46:10
So, general consensus is the GK position is not in need of any major surgery.
Noucamp, fair point on Vitek. Maybe he sits in the #2 spot until Xmas, and is then on loan for the second half after early rounds of the EFL, etc., have been played. My issue with, say, Pope as #2 is that he isn't going to offer much competition for Lammens, whereas Vitek is literally going to do exactly that. It could be an interesting tussle between the two. Providing we have competent coaching staff, I think it could work well.
I'll do a separate thread next for full backs.... to see what the general consensus is.