Starting the whole thing from scratch.
That appeared to be the message that Blades boss Chris Wilder wanted to put across as the club unveiled our second signing of the season in Aaron Ramsdale.
The former Blade joins on a four-year deal, and will presumably take the starting spot occupied by Dean Henderson over the past two seasons, which some might argue is a pretty big responsibility to take hold of, especially given the hype that surrounded the Manchester United loanee.
However, speaking to the club website upon Ramsdale’s arrival, Wilder wanted to make one thing absolutely clear, that this was very much about what the new signing can do for us, rather than what did or did not happen before him:
“The goalkeeping situation is something we have to make sure we get right. This is not about Dean (Henderson), it’s about bringing Aaron in, but Dean was outstanding for us for two years. We know a lot about Aaron, we’ve watched him develop on loan at Chesterfield and then AFC Wimbledon and obviously we’ve watched him this season too.”
This goes back to what I was saying the other day, this is very much the start of a new era when it comes to the goalkeeping position at Bramall Lane, and we get bogged down with thinking about what Henderson would or could have done if Ramsdale gets himself in a sticky situation.
Who will get a senior England cap first?
Ramsdale
Henderson
Next season is next season, and it will present its own challenges as we try to fight off second-season syndrome in this division whilst moving forward as a club at the same time. If I’m honest, I’m going to be more concerned about the number of goals we put in our opponent’s net rather than the amount we’re going to concede.
That doesn’t mean Ramsdale totally gets a free pass this season, if we start seeing errors like Henderson v Liverpool on a regular basis, then rightly call him out on it, but don’t expect him to immediately match up with what Henderson managed to do on a regular basis last year.