Surprise Stoke City news may have worried supporters but 30-year-old is easing concern…
Jack Bonham’s performance against Middlesbrough may have reassured Stoke City supporters for the weeks ahead.
Due to exceptional circumstances Stoke City were wondering if there was a need to worry for the upcoming weeks after Mark Travers was taken from their grasp by his parent club Bournemouth.
The loanee had been the undisputed number one at the Bet365 stadium as he had played in every league game managing to keep two clean sheets.
Injuries to Neto and Darren Randolph for The Cherries meant they felt the need to bring back their youth product even though they still had Andrei Radu available.
Due to this there was frustration from Stoke supporters that the application to recall Travers was accepted by the Premier League, EFL and Football Association.
However, that may have changed after Jack Bonham’s most recent performance in their win over high-flying Middlesbrough.
Why would Stoke fans be unconvinced about Jack Bonham?
At 30-years-old Bonham is now at what some may say is the prime age for goalkeepers, yet he still finds himself as the second choice at the club he joined two years ago.
Since Alex Neil was appointed back in August of last year it has also been clear to see that he doesn’t necessarily trust him as he was dropped after two games and did not get any action in the Championship for 11 games.
Josef Bursik was seemingly preferred but then when Bonham was brought back in for a run of games Neil went and signed Matij Sarkic from Wolves on loan to replace him.
The only reason he got another run of matches was because Sarkic got injured and Bursik had been sold to Club Brugge in January.
During that run towards the latter stages of last campaign he kept two clean sheets but on the whole he wasn’t totally convincing which summed up his Stoke career up to that point.
Again when the transfer window opened Neil made sure to bring in another goalkeeper which all but confirms that he had not won him over hence why supporters feel like there is a need to worry now Travers has gone
How much confidence can be taken from Bonham’s Middlesbrough performance?
Bonham needed a good performance as much as the fans needed to see a confident display from him so it will have done the whole club a world of good as up until January there is realistically no other options for The Potters.
According to Sofascore he prevented 1.14 goals during the 90 minutes with three saves showcasing just how vital he was in the victory.
It was even more important that he put on a faultless display due to the context of Stoke’s season right now as that win has given them optimism that their season is certainly on the up as it was their third on the bounce.
So if he was shaky then the nerves for the next couple of months would have been very high but now he should go and build on the display.
He will also have some self-confidence now there is no uncertainty around whether he will be playing or not with Frank Fielding the only other option until January and he has not played a competitive game since 2022 for Salford City.
Whether he can establish himself as Stoke’s number one seems to be a step too far but Travers leaving seems to be a blessing for Bonham’s career.
Leave a Reply