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Town are understood to have made an enquiry regarding Watford keeper Scott Loach. The Hornets may be will willing to sell the former England U21 international, who was previously with the Blues’ academy between 1997 and 2000 before his family returned to hometown Nottingham, as they are reportedly set to sign former Cardiff man Tom Heaton, who is a free agent.
The 6ft 4in tall keeper established himself as Watford’s number one during 2008/09 but after a drop in form fell out of favour at Vicarage Road last season with Manchester United’s Tomasz Kuszczak — Town’s number one keeper target until he joined Brighton last week - coming in on loan.
In addition to his spells as a youngster with the Blues — where he will have worked with current keeper-coach Malcolm Webster and returning academy director Bryan Klug - and Nottingham Forest, Loach was also with Southwell United and Lincoln City's youth set-ups, spending time on loan with the likes of Bourne Town, Radcliffe Olympic, Boston Town, Spalding United, Stamford, Lincoln United, Gedling Miners Welfare and Grantham Town while with the Imps.
In April 2006 Loach moved on to Watford, Lincoln receiving £50,000 in compensation. Prior to breaking into the first team at Vicarage Road he went on further loan spells at Stafford Rangers, Morecambe and Bradford City.
Loach, who was capped 14 times at U21 level, is unlikely to be the only keeper the Blues have enquired about — in addition to Kuszczak, former Peterborough man Joe Lewis was sounded out earlier in the close season — and other Championship clubs are also believed to be interested.
The Blues have also been mentioned in connection with a number of other keepers this summer, amongst them Birmingham's Colin Doyle, although with sources close to the club playing any interest down, ex-Aston Villa man Brad Guzan, who is available on a free transfer and understood to be a Hull City target, and QPR's Paddy Kenny, who is expected to be reunited with Neil Warnock at Leeds.
Manchester United's Ben Amos was linked with a possible loan, while 23-year-old Tottenham man David Button, who was at Portman Road with Barnsley last season, could well be available on a similar basis and will be well-known to Bryan Klug from his time working at White Hart Lane.
Loach can be seen in action for Town’s academy in this short film.
Photo: Action Images
Photo: Action Images
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Okay, so he isn't rated much by Watford. But at the age of 24 for a keeper, that is very young for one. Keepers normally play until their late 30's so he can only improve?
Blah blah.I want to see more bodies through the door,not idle speculation that am sure is just that! Come on pj,clegg and m e,forget the Olympics and get your finger out!
ive said before when his name mentioned on here, that he wouldnt be my choice, but will certainly back him if he should sign. simoncleggs neck. its ur comment that is a big worry. as you say hes had 2 bad seasons. how many players havw a bad run that lasts that long then improve? to those suggesting watford signing heaton because they think hes better than loach tho, while it may be true that he is(ibelieve he is), the reason i suspect they signing him is that theyre short of a keeper after kusczak left at end of last season when his loan ran out. so loach may not even be available.
I am in favour of this one. He is a good 'keeper and has worked well previously with Bryan Klug. With a decent pre-season behind him we could be getting a quality act on the cheap.
He must be fairly decent if he has clocked up those appearances. I think it may be a case of one bad season, has seen fans turn on him so reckon change of club would bring him a change of fortunes (would like to have seen what they said about him when he first broke through and took the number 1 shirt). Also keeper is such a confidence position, all are good shot stoppers, but it is the most confident which are the best (eg Joe Hart) as they are generally the most commanding, so therefore if coming here give him pride and confidence could be great for both parties. Happens all the time at every club.
This topic has been on so many times before and the consensus from the Watford fans was that they would drive him here. Replacing him last season changed their fortunes so on that basis and from what I've seen on TV over the past couple of seasons please move on as we can do better than this. Says something when in my opinion Heaton is at least an equal to Loach and we still have to pay a fee another reason to forget this deal.
I would like to see Scott Loach at Ipswich at least he has plenty of experience at this level and is still only 24. Why people think Heaton is a better keeper when in 10 seasons as a pro he has hardly played 100 games, also Kuszczak and Guzan have both spent most of there careers in this country warming the bench. Just because a few Watford supporters don't rate him means he is a poor kepper. Town supporters can't judge him as Watford have quite a good record against us
There are a lot of positives about Loach, (experienced, young, U21, Town fan, tall), but i do agree that its concerning that a lot of Watford fans dont seem to rate him. There are some that want him back in the team as well though. It could be that a fresh start would be good for him, you dont get 14 U21 caps and be a poor player. Just depends what sort of fee Watford are after i guess.
So some people are completely against loach because he has hit a bit of bad form and ended the season on the bench, but are crying out for Tom Heaton who was only a cup goalie last season and has only been Cardiffs 2nd or 3rd rated keeper! Doesn't add up tbh!
HARRY, we've been putting together a promotion winning team for the last 4 years so surely we're better at it than Reading, we've got more experience at it!
We were being linked with European Championship winning players 4 years back in Angelos Charisteas, even putting in a rather ambitious bid for him when his club were relegated from The Bundesliga. Now were searching around for scraps, other peoples rejected players and Loach in my opinion is no better than ALB. Not rated by Watford fans and doesn't mean he will improve just because he supports us, how about pressure getting to him and he fails? That money we had a few years back seems to have dried up and putting a promotion chasing side together with little money is not easy nowadays.
Clearly our second choice after failing to land our top target - ironically a keeper who replaced Loach at Watford - after some apparent poor showings.
Personally I would welcome any player who WANTED to play for us, but take the point that although a Town fan, it doesn't mean he is any good. In fact a Watford fan at work said he would personally drive him down to us because he's been so poor for a while now. On the whole it doesn't sound overly promising.
As I understand it (from a Watford season ticket holder colleague), Loach was outstanding for Watford up until he lost all form and confidence following a "backpass => airkick => comedy own goal" incident. He was later relegated to the bench when Kuszczak came in on loan.
If he comes to us and is given the no.1 shirt, I'm sure he'll soon rediscover his prevous form.
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