‘Money talks, it don’t sing or dance and it can’t walk, but money talks’.
Neil Diamond hardly had two Premier League goalkeepers in mind when he first belted out that old classic, but given the events of the last two days it seems appropriate to refer to the song.
Why, apart from money, would an England goalkeeper want to leave a Premier League first team to sit on another Prem club’s bench.
But that, at face value anyway, seems to be precisely what John Ruddy wanted to do when Chelsea came calling.
Admittedly even the most one-eyed Canary would admit the Pensioners are a bigger club, but unless Ruddy knew something the rest of us didn’t – namely that Peter Cech was on his bike from the Bridge – the move made no sense.
And given that Jose Mourinho eventually snapped up Fulham veteran Mark Schwarzer, surely to be Cech’s cover, it seems reasonable to assume Ruddy would have suffered the same fate.
Which begs the question, why?
Which brings us back to Diamond’s hit.
Many moons ago, Neil Lennon left Leicester City for Glasgow Celtic, despite being offered more money to stay at Filbert Street, and when asked privately why he’d made the move replied: ‘Two grand a week is not a life changer, I want to go to Celtic’.
Maybe Ruddy has long harboured an ambition to warm his not inconsiderable posterior on the hardwood of the Stamford Bridge dug out, more likely he believes deep down that Cech’s day is done, and he is the man to take over.
But the likeliest theory of all is, wonga, moolah, bucks – or just plain hard cash.
It was always the case whereby bigger clubs bought decent players from teams in the same division as them, it was seen as a natural progression for the player.
But as a general rule, they were players whose career was on a upward curve, not those who were already ensconced at the top table like Ruddy undoubtedly is.
Maybe the return of Ben Foster to the Three Lions squad has sharpened Ruddy’s focus, maybe Mourinho’s fallen out with yet another goalkeeper – but more likely Ruddy wanted the wedge.
When Wayne Rooney publicly declared a few seasons ago that he wanted away from Old Trafford, United fans left him in no doubt about their feelings.
The suspicion is the same fate awaits Ruddy, and in what was a very high stakes gamble the Canaries ‘keeper is but a couple of mistakes away from becoming John who.
Schwarzer at least has the justification of seeking one last big pay day, nobody can blame him for that, Ruddy on the other hand has backed himself into a corner, and at six feet four his wriggle room was always going to be limited.
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