Jonathan Greening: Aston Villa link could be behind negativity towards West Brom ace
Jonathan Greening believes that West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone may be a magnet for negativity because he used to play for Aston Villa.
Johnstone, 27, has played every Championship match since replacing Ben Foster as the number one choice goalkeeper at The Hawthorns in the summer of 2018 after he was signed on a permanent basis from Manchester United.
His final season as a Man United player was spent on loan at West Brom’s local rivals Aston Villa.
Since the 2017/18 campaign, no goalkeeper has kept more clean sheets in the Championship than Johnstone and although he’s impressed ex-Baggies captain Greening, he has still been a target of criticism for some sections of Albion fans.
Greening reckons that could be down to the fact he used to play for Villa because he has not seen much of an issue with his performances.
“I am always defending Sam on Twitter because I think he is a top keeper,” said Greening, as quoted by the Express & Star.
“He is a great shot-stopper, a good communicator and his distribution with his feet is very good.
“But the big thing for me is that he doesn’t make many mistakes.
“Even the top keepers in the world have shown they have an error in them. Both David de Gea and Ederson have made high profile mistakes this year.
“But Sam is very consistent. And there have been plenty of games this season when he hasn’t had a lot to do – but when he is needed he produces the goods.
“I know there are some fans who say negative things. But for me he is terrific, I do wonder if that negativity stems from the fact he had that loan spell at Villa.”
Greening might have a point but it’s unlikely that many West Brom fans even remember much of him from Johnstone’s spell at Aston Villa, where he only played on loan for one season.
There is a simple reason as to why fans constantly criticise Johnstone and that is because it’s something that’s true of most goalkeepers at most clubs.
Goalkeepers are often slammed by supporters because they’re the last line of defence and a mistake usually always leads to a goal.
If a striker misses a good chance to score, it’s usually forgotten about but if a goalkeeper messes up, it’s always seen on highlight shows and always talked about by pundits and fans.
Johnstone deserves a lot more credit than he gets.
In other West Brom news, we have analysed why Darnell Furlong lost his spot in the starting line-up.