Alex Cairns
Bear with me on this one. Allowed a free transfer to Chesterfield as a 22-year-old, Cairns was granted the same courtesy by the Spireites one year later when moving to Rotherham before yet another free transfer just six months later took him to Fleetwood Town. This doesn’t sound like a top ‘keeper in the making, I know.
Now 24, which is no age for a goalkeeper, Cairns has predictably started to improve and has conceded just 21 goals in 29 appearances for his League One side. So, just one division down, performing better and potentially coming up next season it would be fair to call Cairns a Championship-quality player these days.
Marry that information with the fact that, instead of Cairns, Leeds rely on Marco Silvestri as back-up to Rob Green and you can surely see the advantages of keeping Cairns. Leeds had to shell out £400k for Silvestri and pay him a much higher wage. Can you confidently say he is a better ‘keeper than Cairns right now? I can’t.
Comments are closed.