Robin Hamilton says Liverpool fans shouldn’t be so negative about the signing of Adam Bogdan – a player who improves the goalkeeper position overall.
It seems we are now in a time where every move made by Liverpool FC, and Brendan Rodgers if we take him as the figurehead and main decision-maker, is highly scrutinised given the utter dross we had to watch last season and the fact that social media has become an increasingly pervasive tool in modern society.
The average Redman, myself included, tweets more every minute than even the finest summer warbler. We consume every snippet of LFC information and then regurgitate, adding our own flavour, into the open mouths of our loyal followers.
Surveying the Twittersphere, most contributors concur that signings like Milner and Ings, both on a free, are not going to get the pulses racing or the shirt sales soaring. That said, I would hope they would see that both these players do bring something to the squad and, without getting into their individual merits, give reason for a degree of muted excitement.
Now, it seems, we can add Adam Bogdan to our list of out-of-contract recruits.
A lot of fans have taken to Twitter to vent their anger at another ‘uninspiring’ signing and completely denouncing the club’s lack of ambition. I think we all need to calm down and see how the remainder of the transfer window pans out.
On Bogdan, I view this as only a positive step. Was a new goalkeeper really a priority? No. Does the signing strengthen our keeping options? I think it does.
Simon Mignolet will be, deservingly so, our number one this season. He was worse than bad in the first half of the season – I could not disagree with that – but his recovery in the second half was absolutely outstanding. He was a one man brick wall at times, though questions remain regarding his ability to command his area.
Brad Jones was never going to be adequate back up long term and, though we wish him well in the future, the decision not to renew his contract was never going to be a difficult one.
At the age of 27, Bogdan is young in goalkeeping years. His heroics against us in the two cup fixtures, as well the efforts Bolton made to retain the talented keeper, show that we have signed a player who is well equipped to keep Mignolet honest – though, granted, he is not a top level recruit. Adam is also a former Player of the Season for ‘The Trotters’, albeit in a relegation season.
I know we all probably wanted a Cech, Begovic, Timo Horn or maybe even a Mattia Perin but we have priorities beyond the goalkeeping position.
It is difficult to look at things objectively at the minute. Hope of a bright future will always be inhibited by the cold, hard reality of last year. Clouds have formed over the golden sky of 2013/14 and those hopes and dreams have been replaced by cynicism and growing discontent (from some quarters).
That restlessness can easily cloud best judgement and lead to us over-reacting at times. I hope that’s what has happened with Bogdan. Here is a ‘keeper who is easily good enough to be on our bench and, who knows, with a bit of support, he could surprise us all.
Let’s not get too downhearted. Let’s not beat the “But we are Liverpool” drum too hastily. Let’s see who we attract in the remainder of the close season.
Robin Hamilton
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