Danny Wright Fan Mailbag: Button expected to be No 1 next season
Every week we’ll be asking West Brom fans on our Facebook account for questions that will be answered by editor Danny Wright. You can join in by following the West Brom News Facebook account and watching out for weekly mailbag posts.
West Brom face an overhaul in the summer with the club looking increasingly likely to get relegated to the Championship with each passing week.
While it remains to be seen who’ll be in charge and which players will sign new contracts, one player expected to move on is goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who will enter the final year of his deal at The Hawthorns in the summer.
According to The Sun, Tottenham have shown an interest in the 28-year-old shot-stopper with him arguably being West Brom’s best player in what has been a turgid season.
West Brom do have other goalkeepers on the books at the club should Johnstone move on in the summer.
We’ve asked Albion fans for their questions for the mailbag this week and West Brom News editor Danny Wright how now been asked whether young goalkeeper Josh Griffiths will get a shot in the senior side next term.
Griffiths has been in great form while on loan at Cheltenham this season. He’s made 41 appearances in all competitions for the League Two club, kept 19 clean sheets and conceded 40 goals. According to stats by Wyscout, the 19-year-old has made 71 saves this season, which ranks him joint-17th in League Two and 53.52 per cent of those saves have called on his reflexes. Griffiths’ form at Cheltenham was rewarded with a call-up to the latest England Under-21s squad and while he’s done well in the fourth-tier, moving on up to be West Brom’s first-choice goalkeeper next season is too much too soon.
It’s pretty widely accepted that goalkeepers get better with age so as Griffiths is just 19-years-old, he’s basically a baby in terms of his position. West Brom have better-suited options for the number one spot next season anyway – if Johnstone leaves.
David Button has served as the club’s number two this season but he’s got bags of experience in the Championship. The 32-year-old’s contract doesn’t expire until 2022 either, so it’s fair to say he’s got a good shot of being promoted to the number one. Alex Palmer is another one. He’ll turn 25 in the summer but has never played in the Championship. He’s currently on loan at Lincoln in League One and has been in decent form for them. Palmer has more experience and better credentials than Griffiths in my opinion so if we’re talking about an academy product being promoted to number one then it’s most likely going to be Palmer.
Button and Palmer will be the top two choices for the number one spot next season but as much as I want to see Palmer break into the first-team, Button is expected to get it. Of course, this is all pointless if Johnstone stays, but I really don’t see that happening with how well he’s performed in the Premier League. I don’t expect West Brom to go out and sign a new goalkeeper either. Any funds from the sale of Johnstone should be used on improving the centre of the midfield. We can win promotion with a rusty goalkeeper but we can’t win it with a midfield of Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips expects this £7million-rated ace to quit the Albion in the summer.
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