Why isn’t Ghana’s World Cup Goalie Good Enough for Blackpool?

I guess it doesn’t seem too odd that Blackpool has cleaned house after being relegated from the English Premier League on the last day of the season. I suppose we should have seen it coming as they needed to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. Instead, they ended up on the wrong end of a 4-2 score.

What is surprising though is Blackburn released goalkeeper Richard Kingson, especially considering the team’s downfall was the result of not being able to keep the ball out of their own net. Kingson also had a fine season, on the field anyway, and single-handedly earned several points for his teammates and bosses.

In fact, the 33-year-old was named the best goalie in the EPL in the first half of the season after The Guardian newspaper conducted a poll. In addition, he’s also the top keeper for Ghana. There must be something else to this story because I don’t see how a goalie as good as Kingson can be let go by ?a team as bad as Blackpool, especially considering he’s Ghana’s World Cup keeper.

Kingson joined the English side last September on a one-year deal after his contract with Wigan ran out at the end of last season. Amazingly, Kingson was kept on the bench by Blackpool and didn’t see any action until first-choice keeper Matthew Gilks was injured. Kingson then took over in goal and played 20m games. He had two clean sheets and made 77 saves for his club.

But it’s not the first or second time Kingson has been let go by an English team as Birmingham got rid of him when the 2008/2009 campaign came to an end. In fact, Davis Sullivan, the club’s co-owner, called the goalie at “complete waste of space” at the time.

Kingson must either be a negative influence in the dressing room or English teams have no clue what talent is. It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up next season. He’s been linked to teams in France and Turkey so far.

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