Swindon Town’s defeat away to Preston North End in their npower League One match made all the headlines last weekend, for far more reasons that the scoreline. The Invincibles won the game 4-1, though by far the largest talking point of the game was Swindon Town boss Paulo Di Canio’s decision to substitute No.1 goalkeeper Wesley Foderingham midway through the first half.
After just twenty-one minutes of the game the Robins found themselves 2-0 down, thanks to goals from Akpo Sodje and Nicky Wroe. Foderingham had been heavily at fault for the first goal, as his poor clearance was volleyed home by the Preston striker. This subsequently led to Di Canio’s decision to remove the goalkeeper from the game, replacing him with 18-year-old Leigh Bedwell.
Former Crystal Palace stopper Foderingham reacted angrily to being substituted, kicking a water bottle and marching straight down the tunnel, following as a heated exchange with his manager. The often outspoken and always controversial Di Canio was less than complimentary about his young goalkeeper in his post match interview.
“He’s the worst professional I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t only the mistake, which can happen to everyone. It was the arrogance later on when he started moaning to the others. That was the worst thing for me. If he doesn’t come out and say sorry to the fans for his professionalism, then he is out of my team.”
Di Canio later remarked that he had “forgiven” his young goalkeeper having received an apology. (Source: BBC)
“He came in to see me and said he was in the wrong. He felt hurt by the situation and a mad moment can happen but after the substitution he left the ground and left his team-mates.”
“But it’s not acceptable to think: ‘I’m the goalkeeper, I can’t be subbed’. When you have a bad day like he did yesterday, then you can be subbed.”
So was Di Canio right to substitute his young goalkeeper? Should a manager substitute his number one after one costly mistake? Is the goalkeeper, as Di Canio suggests, just as replaceable as any other member of the team?
For Foderingham, although being an extremely astute and mature young goalkeeper, he is after all just a young man who is still learning his trade at senior level. Having joined Swindon after a successful loan spell in January, he conceded just 14 goals in 41 appearances for the Robins last season. He has also failed to concede a goal at home since February, going over 1,000 minutes unbeaten. Subsequently, Di Canio’s decision, which was inevitably very impulsive, also seems a little reckless. Why change such a successful formula after just one manual error?
The switch can’t have done much for Foderingham’s confidence. Mistakes happen, especially when one is so inexperienced and although Foderingham will have undoubtedly learned a lot from the whole affair, perhaps Di Canio should focus on encouraging rather than punishing his young player, and certainly not chastising him in public. Admittedly, Foderingham’s reaction showed an extreme lack of respect towards his manager and Di Canio was right to stamp out any revolt against his authority. However, in consideration of all circumstances, the decision to substitute Foderingham was the wrong one.
Aside from the events at Deepdale, is it ever appropriate to replace a goalkeeper in a competitive match? Keepers will have good and bad days like all players, but does this make them just as dispensable as their outfield counterparts? After all, a goalkeeper is one of the most critical components within a team, as the leader of the defence and a focal point within the side. Changing the man with the gloves changes the team dynamic drastically and is subsequently likely to have equally extreme consequences, for better or for worse.
The rarity of such scenarios tells its own story. The majority of professional managers must believe that unless he is injured, replacing their goalkeeper mid-game is not the way to win football matches. Nevertheless, Paulo Di Canio has always been a little different, hasn’t he?
So what do you think…is it is ever right to for a manager to substitute his goalkeeper? Do you agree with Di Canio, that he is just another player, and therefore is liable to being substituted if he is performing badly? Have you ever witnessed such an occurrence, and if so, what were the consequences?
Comment below or message me on Twitter: @Benno_Watts22
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
Nicely written (a couple of typos aside). Though I think you have misunderstood the reason for the change. It wasn’t made directly as a result of the keepers error it was more his response to the mistake. He shouted at those around him, blaming them for an error he was clearly at fault at. That is what prompted Di Canio to sub him. If he hadn’t of done that I don’t think he would have made the change. That said Di Canio does act some what bizarrely with an alarming regularity. But at the same time he has achieved outstanding results in his short time at Swindon, their Capital One Cup performances against Stoke and Brighton this season particularly highlighting this. So it is hard to question a man who gets results.
Tim Krul’s Lover (great name) many thanks for the comments above. You are right to say that i misunderstood the situation slightly, as i wrote this article having heard about the incident, not having actually seen it myself, which admittedly was probably a little foolish (a bit like my proof reading!). However, even if his behaviour was wrong and he was blaming others around him, i still believe that for a young goalkeeper, a quiet arm around the shoulder from the captain or the boss at half time would have been more appropriate … You just cannot predict what subbing the young lad will do to his confidence. However, as you say it is hard to question Di Canio, he is his own man and will always do things his own way, so who am i to question him?