McLeish: Foster can be as good as Hart

19 May 2010 15:48
Alex McLeish hopes Ben Foster can resurrect his career with a fresh start at St Andrew's after signing the goalkeeper from Manchester United.[LNB] The England international has agreed a three-year contract after moving for an undisclosed fee.[LNB]McLeish admitted Foster presented a better option than up to a dozen foreign goalkeepers, who he admitted were "a risk".[LNB]Foster has been brought in to replace Joe Hart, who excelled in a season-long loan spell from Manchester City but was unlikely to return for the new campaign.[LNB]The 27-year-old found opportunities at Old Trafford limited and fell down the pecking order behind Edwin van der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak after a number of unconvincing displays.[LNB]He made just nine Premier League starts and his last first-team appearance came on February 23 against West Ham.[LNB]"It looks as if we've got another great acquisition with Ben Foster," said McLeish.[LNB]"The goalkeeper is a massive position and we've now signed another young hungry goalkeeper who wants to prove himself and live up to his potential.[LNB]"We believe he is of the same kind of standard as Joe Hart.[LNB]"Ben's situation is similar to Joe's in that he found himself twiddling his thumbs behind another top keeper in Van der Saar.[LNB]"Goalkeepers can go on forever so that one was a losing battle for Ben.[LNB]"Ben is ambitious and wants to play regular football and naturally doesn't want to play second fiddle."[LNB]McLeish said Birmingham's goalkeeping coach Dave Watson had highlighted Foster as a good replacement for Hart some time ago.[LNB]"We were looking at it even when Joe was here in the event that we wouldn't be caught short and to steal a march on other potential suitors," the manager told bcfc.com.[LNB]"There were another 10 or 12 foreign goalkeepers we looked at but didn't know enough about then and we didn't want to take a risk.[LNB]"But Dave Watson is a guy I trust and have given responsibility to and he did his homework on Ben.[LNB]"He knows everything about him, although ultimately it's my decision to choose the players and the goalkeeper.[LNB]"With due diligence we've done together we know that he's a very capable player.[LNB]"We think he can make a name for himself and it's up to him to do what Big Joe did."

Source: Team_Talk