Manager explains background to swoop
Neal Ardley said that goalkeeper Kelle Roos was a target the Dons had tracked since before Christmas after he signed for Wimbledon on transfer deadline day.
that the Dutch shot-stopper had signed on loan from Derby County until the end of the season.announcedWe earlier
Speaking today about the signing, Neal Ardley revealed: “After we sent Ben Wilson back and James Shea returned sooner than expected, we set Simon Bassey and Ashley Bayes a task to whittle down a list of the best goalkeepers out there that could come into our equation. Firstly, we had to consider if James would get over his injury, and secondly, if he would recapture his great form from last season. It was an area that we saw as one that may need strengthening so we put together a list of possible targets.
“Four or five weeks ago ‘Bayzo’ started putting that list together. He researched it hard by speaking to a lot of people and covering a lot of games. Once we decided on Saturday to strengthen in the goalkeeping area, Kelle was at the top of the list. After what happened with Ben Wilson, it was important that if we decided to go down this route we did not make the same mistake again. We have researched a lot for this signing.
“We wanted a goalkeeper with a lot of presence and Kelle will give us that. Throughout the season we have not defended crosses and set-pieces well enough. We wanted someone who brought presence and at 6 ft 4 inches tall Kelle will give us that. He is also very brave, a fantastic kicker, and takes up good starting positions. He offers us something different and over the weeks a lot of top people have recommended him highly.”