Ian Bendelow says…
There are two questions here: do Sunderland need another backup keeper, and do they need to be any good?
With the greatest of respect to Patterson’s understudies of the ‘EFL years’, Sunderland need to have someone in place who isn’t simply a stop gap.
Alex Bass, Nathan Bishop and Simon Moore were the little doughnut-shaped tyres you put on your car after you get a puncture, but couldn’t go above 50mph. They certainly weren’t long-term replacements you could be fully confident in, whereas Moore could potentially argue his case in the Championship.
There’s a harsher truth to all of this, though: Patterson doesn’t simply need to be backed up, — he needs a serious challenge to his jersey.
For all of his heroics in the playoffs, there’s a question mark over whether he really is a Premier League quality goalkeeper. Sadly, I suspect the answer is ‘no’ for now, although he has many years of development left.
The signing of a proven stopper like Bulka would be exactly what this squad needs if it’s serious about staying up.
It would challenge Patterson and hopefully drive him to be a better player, yet it’s a stark fact that far too often clubs have suffered because they don’t have the required strength in the goalkeeping department — 2005/2006 and 2017/2018 being standout seasons for Sunderland when this was the case.
Sheffield United v Sunderland - Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
John Wilson says…
I think bar two or three players, everyone’s position is under threat as we climb the ladder into the Premier League. If we’re to have a good chance to stay on the top rung and not falling off, there can be no sentiment towards the squad.
Patterson is a good shot stopper and I certainly wouldn’t be too worried if he started the campaign as our number one, but in my opinion, you can’t be a top class goalkeeper and be as quiet as Patto is.
He’s got to be more demonstrative and own his box more. It’s interesting that during those clips of Bulka doing the rounds — which I assume are all his best bits — he doesn’t catch a single shot and in fact pushes one or two shots straight back into the danger zone!
Patto certainly needs someone to challenge him.
Competition raises standards and that’s true throughout the squad. I don’t think this should be seen as a criticism of him or in any other position we might be looking to fill — it’s just common sense to get as much quality and competition for places as we can.
Onwards and upwards!
Phil West says…
Of course, it sounds very exciting: a towering goalkeeper with top flight experience on the continent who could come in and possible usurp Anthony Patterson as our number one.
As always with overseas signings, I can only base my opinion on what others have said about Bulka, and the consensus seems to be that he’s a very, very talented goalkeeper; indeed, one tweet I saw described him as ‘Wojciech Szczęsny’s successor for Poland’, which felt like high praise indeed.
On the overall goalkeeping picture at the Stadium of Light, my feelings are mixed.
I’ve been a fan of Patterson’s ever since he broke into the team during the League One promotion run and I’ve always felt that as a shot stopper, he’s extremely talented and that the weaknesses in his game could be eradicated with time.
Additionally, he’s performed superbly during two Wembley playoff finals and had it not been for his ‘Monty moment’ — a stunning save from Kieffer Moore’s early header — the game against Sheffield United would’ve panned out very differently.
The notion of Patterson keeping goal for his boyhood team in the top flight is one that many fans would doubtless buy into, but we all know that the Premier League is ruthless and that tough decisions must be made in order to give us a chance of survival. With that in mind, if the club hierarchy have decreed that the goalkeeping position is one that may need to be addressed, it’s a fair call.
If we’re honest, we need injections of quality all over the pitch and Fabrizio Romano’s reference to an ‘ambitious project’ is encouraging, but obviously we’ll need to wait and see how our transfer business pans out before we can draw firm conclusions.
I must admit that the link to Bulka — as exciting as it sounds — does feel almost too good to be true and I’d be very, very surprised if the signing actually happens, but our recruitment undoubtedly needs to go to a new level this summer and these are the markets in which we need to shop in order to build a competitive top flight squad.
Time is of the essence. The new season will be upon us before we know it, and let’s hope we start to see rumours and whispers become completed transfers before long.
Poland v Moldova - International Friendly Photo by Marcin Golba/NurPhoto via Getty Images