The problem with goalkeepers....

I note that Simon Royce, Chris Powell and Graham Stuart want the opportunity to go out on loan, and in the case of the latter two it is hard to see what there is to lose by allowing them to play first-team football somewhere, allowing them to remain match fit in case Curbs needs them. But Royce is a different situation and an unfortunate one from his point of view, particularly with Paul Rachubka already out on loan.

Virtually every team will go into games with two goalkeepers in the squad and in the highly competitive world of the Premiership, you can't risk having a second rate replacement. Moreover, given that one of the keepers may take a knock in training or eat something dodgy the night before a game, it is virtually required these days to have three 'Premiership quality' goalkeepers (arguably we now have four) available match-to-match. But how do you keep four goalkeepers happy? Royce for example has never let Charlton down and by all accounts did a good job at Leicester when called upon, but he played just 19 times for the latter and has played just 5 times for us. Admittedly he had a lengthy spell on loan at QPR but it seems, particularly given he will be 33 this week, that the majority of the last six years of his career (probably the peak of his abilities too) will have been spent on the bench and in the 'stiffs'. And this for a keeper that most would people would rate pretty highly.....

This probably takes us back to the question of higher wages vs. personal sporting pride and reminds me of Darren Huckerby's decision to take a paycut for first team football at Norwich. Does there come a point where at 33, someone in Royce's situation decides to move to the lower divisions so that his memories of the last few years of his career are prouder, but at the cost of a less secure financial future? After all it's not that he doesn't have value to Charlton and deserve the wages he earns - merely being available and fit is his current responsibility but barring injuries to both Kiely and Andersen, it is almost inconceivable that he will start a Premiership game again in a Charlton shirt. In the case of Powell or Stuart (an underrated player in my opinion), a mere tactical change or slight loss of form would see them called back into the first team but unlike Royce (because of the specialist nature of goalkeeping), it isn't essential to have them available at a moment's notice. Maybe it would be fairest to call back Rachubka and send Royce out for a couple of months?

This situation is not unique to Simon Royce of course. There are dozens of goalkeepers in the same situation all around the Premiership. Few managers rotate their goalkeeper with the same regularity as the outfield players. It is not inconceivable that a goalkeeper could earn a small fortune out of the game without ever making a first team appearance.